Holiday decor in no short supply around Butler County
The holiday season has arrived, and local retailers are seeing strong customer interest in decorating the inside and outside of their homes. From traditional red and green themes to organic natural elements, this year’s trends offer something for everyone.
Traditional holiday looks remain popular across Pennsylvania. Buffalo check patterns, red pickup trucks and classic color combinations continue to sell well. Cardinals and woodland animals with flocking details appear on trees and tabletops throughout the region.
“The traditional nostalgia is still good,” said Joyce Marrie, manager at Kraynaks in Hermitage. She noted that decorating trends often reflect local culture, with bears and woodland creatures being especially popular in Pennsylvania.
At Quality Gardens in Mars, retail manager Jamie Christy noticed that customers are drawn to organic materials. Greens, berries, curly willow, birch and pinecones are flying off the shelves, she said. People want natural elements for indoor and outdoor displays.
Velvet has made a major comeback this season — velvet bows and ribbons add a luxurious touch to any decoration. “Velvet is everything this year,” Christy said. “Velvet bows, particularly.” Paper chains have also returned to popularity, giving homes a nostalgic, handmade feel.
Holiday decorating has gotten simpler thanks to modern technology. Most artificial trees now come in three sections with LED lights already attached. No more wrestling with individual branches or stringing lights for hours. These pre-lit trees often include remote controls with different settings. Homeowners can adjust the lighting without bending down to reach switches at the tree’s base.
LED lights have changed outdoor decorating, too. Traditional lights required extension cords every 50 feet, and you could only connect two or three strings together. LED lights allow you to connect eight to 10 strings, reducing cord clutter. They also use less energy, so you can run them throughout the season without worrying about your electric bill, said Marrie.
Infinity lights offer something completely different. These mirrors have LED lights positioned between them, creating an effect that appears to go on forever.
With many families watching their spending, the good news is you don’t need to start from scratch every year. Small changes can refresh your existing decorations.
“You don’t have to redo your whole tree,” Marrie said. “Maybe change up your tinsel or garland or add ribbons.”
She suggests choosing a theme and adding elements throughout your existing setup. If you love cardinals, buy a package and scatter them around your tree. A new tree topper or snowflake ornaments can brighten everything without breaking the bank.
For a recent holiday display for her home, she transformed unexpected materials into charming decorations. She used black and white magazine pages from a 1930s issue of Fortune magazine and fashioned them into paper chain garlands. Christy was going for a “letters to Santa” look and feel. She also used simple brown paper grocery bags and cut them into stars, applied glitter and strung them together.
“You can totally decorate on a budget,” Christy said. “You could buy a couple spools of ribbon and hot glue bows together. You could go out and source pinecones, pine branches. You can stick pieces of curly willow in a planter and put some greens around it and voila — you have something unique and inexpensive.”
Nature provides free decorating materials if you know where to look. Collect pinecones and pine branches from your yard or a nearby park. Add curly willow branches to a planter with some greens around them for an instant display.
Thrift stores offer another budget option. Christy shops at Goodwill for unique items she can repurpose into holiday decorations.
When it comes to outdoor decorating, homeowners should feel free to experiment. A wreath with a red bow remains the classic choice for making a house look festive, said Marrie.
The shift to LED lighting has opened new possibilities for elaborate outdoor displays. Lower energy costs and easier installation mean people can create bigger, brighter shows. Fresh wreaths work beautifully outside, lasting all winter in cold weather.
Most customers at both stores arrive with a vision of what they want. Display trees help them see how different colors and themes work together. Kraynaks has 74 decorated trees this year, each with a different style.
“Help on how to put the colors together” is one of the most common customer requests, Marrie said. Seeing fully decorated examples helps people pick their favorite elements and adapt them with their own color choices.
Christy’s store creates premade arrangements for customers who want to see the finished product before buying. Glass ornaments and unique giftable pieces have sold especially well this season, she said.
Both retail managers agree that decorating should reflect personal taste. There’s no single right way to trim a tree or deck a hall. “Decorating is a personal choice and beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” Christy said. “There’s no wrong way to decorate a tree,” added Marrie.
The key is working with what you already have, adding fresh touches where your budget allows, and creating a home that feels festive and welcoming to you and your family.
