Gracey's Free Stock Photos: Christmas and Holiday Decor

Large green Christmas tree decorated with silver garlands and mirrored ornaments and pretty white lights.

Green and White Tree

Christmas is coming, right? Yeah I know, being the 30th of October I know it's not really even Hallowee'n yet, but people start early when getting ready for Christmas, whether it's early blog posts they need a quick image for, or whether it's images for use on their home made gift tags, people start preparing way ahead of Christmas.

These images can be used for all of those Christmas related things ... gift tags, your own greeting cards, blog posts, table-seating cards and even used in papier mache wrapped christmas balls to hang on your tree. Whatever you can create from paper or card stock, and I suppose if you really wanted you could print one up on iron-on transfer paper and make yourself an ugly Christmas sweater.

Most of the images of objects are items either I, or one of the family have (or still) owned over the years. My favourite things are my village pieces (right now about 60 or so), but I also love Hallmark's singing snowmen items. Then of course, there are the elves :) The Christmas tree is one I don't own any longer. The older I get, the less I want to deal with a huge tree and all the ornaments. After our kids grew up, I was the one who had to decorate the tree, usually alone. With kids, it's a fun job but alone ... not so much. While it looks pretty, it's also one of the most time-consuming jobs for me, and I'm sort of done with it.

One a side note, if you want just the objects, isolated on a transparent background so you can fit your own background in behind it, visit JustPng.com. There's 3 pages of Christmas items you can download (probably be adding more but 3 pages for now).

A staircase in an old Victorian home decorated with with garland, lights and bows.

Railing in our old house.

A couple of years ago my daughter gave me a 6' tall tree that's very narrow, has attached decorations and lights and runs off battery. It fits in our small space, folds down (somewhat like a slinky) to fit in a box about a foot and a half square and two inches high. It's up in seconds, and down just as fast, with everything attached. That's what I've been using and I won't go back to the other type any more. I love Christmas but the time and mess decorating is beyond me now.

When I was younger I did up all the banisters and railings in the house with lighted greenery and bows, and did all the rooms visitors would see, but not any more. Besides, we head to Florida within a couple of days of Christmas being over, and I don't want to spend too much time taking stuff down and putting it away (nor do I want to have to come home in April or May and put it away).

Part of a Christmas village on display in a wooden cabinet.

Part of the village before I added to it.

Now, it's a lot less stuff, but the village (if I put every piece up) can take a couple of days. Usually come winter I'm itching to leave the cold and snow behind and head off to the warm, sunny south and the morning after Christmas I put the majority of stuff away and am glad to be done with it all - not "Christmas" itself, but the stuff.

Sometimes when the house is fitted out for Christmas I wish I could leave some of it year round (the village pieces in particular), but I know it wouldn't take long for me to want it packed away. These days, I prefer a cleaner look with very few knick-knacks about.

I'm constantly paring down the display items until there is very little on any tables or cabinets. Over the last couple of years I have gotten rid of more Christmas items than I kept, but I still have a lot. I just don't put them all out any more.

Anyhow, I hope some of you can put these images to good use.