Decorating Ideas for a Sports Themed Christmas

The latest craze in Christmas decorating this year is the Sports Themed Christmas! Pick just about any sport, any team - college or pro - and you'll be able to find all kinds of decorations to suit every taste.

The list of things you can choose from seems endless, but here are a few of the ones you can use in your Christmas decorating:

* Ornaments - these come in glass, metal, or plastic and some of them are even collectibles

* Christmas Stockings and Garlands - hang these on the fireplace in your game room to show your team spirit

* Villages which can include reproductions of your favorite team's home stadium

* Christmas wreaths - these usually feature a snowman and snowlady all bundled up in their team's colors and logo

But the sports fun doesn't stop there, because you'll also find holiday Santa and elf hats, window clings, table runners, snow families, tabletop decorations, centerpieces, nutcrackers, string lights, night lights, and just about anything else you can think of!

If you're giving a gift to a big sports fan, you'll want to consider using their team's wrapping paper and ribbon.

You can even find personal items such as holiday design clothing and jewelry, all with your favorite team's logo and in their colors.

Or consider lighting up your whole neighborhood with an animated or iNFLatable sports lawn figure or a window light-up player to let your friends know which team your home roots for.

It's possible to design your entire holiday color scheme around your favorite team's colors, and dress up your whole house and yard to match. Your Christmas tree can be decorated in your team's colors and matching tree trimming ornaments and accessories. You can use your team's matching light strings around your tree, and even string them across your fireplace mantle or over doorways, entwined with team logo decorated garlands. Just let your imagination be your guide.

If you'd like to take it a step further, consider team logo towels, washcloths and soap dispensers for your bathroom, and sheets, pillowcases, shams and comforters or bedspreads for your bedroom, or tea towels for your kitchen. Even available on the market are things like ceramic helmet serving bowls and wine bottle cork stopper sets.

Christmas décor is available in most of your favorite teams from the NFL, MLB, NCAA, NHL, NBA, USL, and even NASCAR and others.

Whatever you decide on this year, just remember to shop early. This fun sports décor is usually in limited supply around the holidays and only available for a short time. Once an item you have your heart set on is out of stock, it likely won't be available again during this holiday season.

To see pictures of all the great sports Christmas decorations that are available this year, visit my website at SportsChristmasDecorations.com

Decorating Your Bedroom and Showing Team Spirit

But before you get too caught up in your classes and demanding schedule, you need to take some time to unpack, set up your room, and decorate! Some students find the beginning of the school year a bit overwhelming and forget to take time to create that perfect "home away from home." Suddenly, it's the middle of the first semester, and your clothes and other items are still sitting in your bags and boxes!

So get those clothes into the drawers; your toiletries into the bathroom; and your books, pictures, knickknacks, and paraphernalia onto your nightstand and the shelves and walls! Once that's done, you can start thinking about how to decorate your dorm room and maybe display some college team spirit, too!

First, talk to your roommate(s), if applicable, to discuss your ideas. You might need to compromise or slightly alter or "tone down" your ideas to ensure your dorm room will be a stylish and comfortable haven for both/all of you.

Next, consider your budget. Extra furniture and décor can be quite expensive, so think about how much you have to spend all together before you make an impulse purchase on one particular item you think you simply "have" to have, which ends up being all you can afford.

Many students don't have oodles of disposable income available to them, so you might want to consider budget-friendly ways of decorating your dorm room. Look for sales and discounts, bring stylish pieces from home that you can use to accent your room, search online for secondhand items, scout out yard sales, and consider multi-use purchases (for example, a funky ottoman that can be used for storage, for sitting, for propping your feet, and for holding your jacket or bag). Also consider what might be available right at your college or in town for a reasonable price that you can use to show some team spirit.

Many students choose to display a little team spirit through the décor in their dorm rooms. This can be a great idea to help you feel a part of your college community, as well as to help make the college feel like home for a while. Some ideas for incorporating team spirit into your dorm room décor include putting up posters or banners, displaying a small plush-toy version of a college sports team mascot on a shelf, taking a good-quality outdoor photograph of the campus and framing it, framing your acceptance letter, displaying a blown-up version of the college logo on a bulletin board, or incorporating the colors of your college or college sports team into your décor (curtains, pillows, throw blanket, lamp, garbage can, bathroom accents, etc.).

You can also display team spirit in your dorm room using blinds or shades. One option is using college colors in the blinds/shades. Alternatively, you might consider PERSONA Custom Graphics' Collegiate Collection Roller Shades, featuring the official logos of leading colleges and universities in the U.S. These shades are available in a variety of quality fabrics and hardware options.

However, exercise caution when going the team spirit route-going overboard and doing too much with the space you have can make your room look tacky, like a walk-in advertisement for the college, and make you seem like you're trying too hard, without any taste or sense of style of your own. The overdone team spirit dorm room can be off-putting to your roommates and guests.

Instead, try to integrate the concept of "team spirit" into your overall décor and style, and choose a few items that particularly stand out and appeal to you, instead of going overboard with every kind of college paraphernalia that you can think of.

There are various ways to show your team spirit - from football team flags to MLB window shades; These are fun and exciting ways to keep your room decorated and full of spirit.

Decorating Your Home With Sports Memorabilia

The potential for decorating your home with your favorite sports memorabilia are never-ending. With a little creativity and thoughtfulness, your home décor can be accented by your sports collection as something you can proudly display and everyone can look at and enjoy on a daily basis - something you definitely want to share with your family and friends.

First, for displaying and protecting your sports memorabilia, be sure you have all the correct accessories and fixtures that match your current home decorating scheme. Many of these cases are very unique and decorative in themselves. Baseball bats, helmets, batting gloves, hockey pucks, footballs and basketball are all items that can all be proudly displayed in cases and enjoyed by everyone.

Autographed photographs or framed jerseys can also add to any sports home décor. They can be displayed in almost every room of the house. As with any wall art piece, you will want to hang the framed photos or jerseys where they can be fully viewed in appropriate lighting. You should consider hanging these photos over the fireplace, in the foyer or hallway, over a living room sofa and in your game room or child's playroom.

In addition, sports-themed lamps and lighting accessories will add to and compliment any home décor. They can be placed strategically throughout your home to provide functional, illuminating, lighting while also allowing you to proudly display and show off your team spirit and loyalty.

Try decorating any room in your house in the colors and logos on your favorite college or Professional sports team or athlete. You can also try decorating a room based on a famous sporting field of play such as Yankee Stadium or a memorable event such as the Super Bowl, World Cup or World Series. You can begin with one special piece and then add on with other home accents and complimentary pieces later.

Decorating your home with sports memorabilia is endless and can bring out the sports fan in all of us - helping us think and work as a team and as champions.

Shelley McCabe is the owner of http://www.sportsfanprolighting.com who is an avid sports fan and who knows the dramatic impact of picking the right sports lighting décor for your home or office.