Celebrate a Nontraditional Christmas with a Gothic Touch

While the traditional Christmas celebrations can be fun, some people just can't get into them. Maybe you're like me and enjoy darker things. If so, read on before you pack away those Halloween decorations. I will give you some nontraditional ideas that mix Christmas with a more Gothic flare.

Making a Tree Gothic for a Nontraditional Christmas

Even if you don't use many decorations for Christmas, just about everyone has a tree of some sort. My favorite type of tree is a fake white one. I have also seen black trees, but they are usually not very tall and they seem harder to find in the US. On eBay.com, you may find black trees from UK sellers. Be careful with the shipping. Order very early in the season to ensure they arrive on time.

For the tree, I like to start with black garland and orange and purple lights. These are available at Wal-Mart during Halloween. A great time to buy ornaments and decorations is the after Halloween clearance sales. Ornaments can be small Halloween items like plastic skeletons, bats and cats. With a box of ornaments hooks or some ribbon, it's easy to turn Halloween knick-knacks into a nontraditional Christmas decoration. You can also buy pre-made Gothic ornaments online. For the top of the tree, try a small zombie, ghost or vampire. Many stores sell these spooky characters, usually as inexpensive item to hang on doors. Find one that is hollow inside, so it will stay on the top of your tree.

Decorating the House for a Nontraditional Christmas

It's easy to take traditional Christmas decorations and turn them into a Gothic nontraditional decoration. With a wreath, you can spray paint it black and add silver or red ribbons. Another wreath idea is to leave it green and attach small skeletons or plastic eyeballs you can find during the Halloween season. As an extra touch, paint these the traditional green and red Christmas colors.

Place black, silver and red garland around staircase banisters, doors or windows. Take that skeleton you hang on the door for Halloween and give him a Santa hat. With just a few bottles of paint and your imagination, it's not hard to turn regular items into nontraditional Christmas decorations. There are also many wonderful Nightmare Before Christmas movie statues, globes, and knick-knacks that have Jack in his Santa outfit.

Gothic Nontraditional Christmas Cards

By searching online, you can find a variety of Gothic nontraditional Christmas cards. Sites like Zazzle.com and CafePress.com are great places to browse the styles. You can also send Gothic nontraditional Christmas ecards.

Movies for a Gothic Nontraditional Christmas

There are many options when it comes to movies for your nontraditional celebration. For family friendly entertainment try Nightmare Before Christmas, Gremlins, Edward Scissorhands and Batman Returns. All of these take place during the holiday season and are rated PG-13 and under.
For Christmas horror movies try Black Christmas (1974), Silent Night Deadly Night, Child's Play and Jack Frost.

Treats for a Nontraditional Christmas

You can use traditional Christmas cookie cutters. Decorate your cookies and treats with a Gothic feel. Use black frosting or other Halloween colors, like orange and purple for a Gothic Santa, snowman, or tree cookie. Also try using Halloween cookie cutters and decorating the ghost and bat cookies with Christmas green and red. Either way, they made fun treats for a nontraditional Christmas.

This year, why not try something different and have a nontraditional Christmas? It's not hard to spruce up your regular Christmas items or keep the Halloween decorations in use longer. Your Gothic decorations, cards and treats will be the talk of the season.

Sources:

Personal Experience

eBay.com