Going All Out for the Season

Trends in Ornaments and Other Decorations

By Carimé Lane

Personalized ornaments are very popular at Always Christmas located in Hiawassee, Ga., said Tammy Hollingshead, general manager. They sell well because they can accommodate all of the unique ways names are spelt. Along with personalizing with the name of an individual, they also personalize ornaments with the names of entire families. For these, there is a selection of ornaments customers can pick from with designs such as black bears (indigenous to the area), ugly sweaters, snowmen or penguins. These ornaments are made to be personalized by families or groups of people. For example, an ugly sweater ornament features two ugly sweaters that are larger than the others to represent parents and smaller sweater ornaments to be personalized with the names of the children.

Many customers will give an ornament to their child or children every year, with their name and the year on it, said Hollingshead. Customers jump at the opportunity to give gifts where something was picked out just for them, she added.

They also cater to local trends. For instance, local ornaments with the town’s name on it are always a hit because they are situated in a tourist town. These ornaments are also made in the USA, which is an added draw for customers.

Anything decorated with cardinals has also been popular lately shared Hollingshead.

Legend has it that when you see a cardinal in your yard, it’s your loved one in heaven. Hollingshead has seen bereavement gifts in general trending at the moment. She believes it may be that customers are experiencing loss due to COVID, or losing grandparents or parents, or perhaps that these sales reflect the demographics of those buying at the store.

Hollingshead also stated that gnomes were big last year. They decorated their center tree with them. Although people have a love/

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Going All Out (From page 151) hate relationship with gnomes, Hollingshead said this trend appears to be continuing through the spring. She also noted that Egyptian glass ornaments have been taking off lately.

In her store in particular, what Hollingshead calls ‘dancing glitter globes’ or ‘glitter lanterns’ have been very popular. The lanterns contain a liquid thicker than water with glitter that floats to make it look as though there are a bunch of little lights inside the lantern.

Small glass trees with little glass ornaments that hang on the branches are also big hits.

Additionally, retro ceramic trees that look like something your mom would have made in ceramics class with light bulbs on the end of each branch are really catching customers’ eyes. The ceramic tree itself lights up, explained Hollingshead.

Custom bows and mantel pieces are sought after items at Always Christmas. “A lot of times, people don’t know how to make their own bows,” explained Hollingshead.

Flocked picks and

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What Are The Trends in Christmas Colors? Why?

Since they’re in a traditional area, the big Christmas colors are still red, gold, silver and white at Always Christmas.

For the past two years, said General Manager Tammy Hollingshead, they’ve had a gold and silver tree with lots of glitter that customers have picked clean both years. This year, she said they’ll decorate the center tree in that color scheme, too.

The color combinations of red and gold and red and white remain big colors for them, Hollingshead said.

At The Christmas Haus, which has locations in Gettysburg and

New Oxford, Pa., and revenue of 1.2 million annually between two stores, copper has been very popular this year. “I think it blends well with gold, so it goes with items already on people’s trees,” said Roger Lund, owner.❖