How to Buy Christmas China in 2008

In two months, Christmas will once again be on our doorstep. In no time, you'll be hunting down those Christmas presents that you hid, unpacking boxes of decorations, and dusting off that Christmas china. But wait, do you even own Christmas china? Or, do you realize that you don't have enough place settings for everyone? Or, do you just want to retire great grandma's china for something new? If you're wanting to get new Christmas china or are purchasing it for the first time, there are many Christmas china settings to choose from.

When many of us think of Tiffany, we don't think of china- we think of Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and exquisite jewelry. Tiffany offers their Tiffany Holiday china. This bone china set is decorated in a Victorian style with bundles of pinecones, acorns, pears, and cranberries tied up with crimson and gold ribbons. Tiffany offers their Tiffany Holiday design on the place settings, serving dishes, table ornaments, and vases. Tiffany sells their exquisite dishes individually, and their quality china will cost you. A five piece place setting for one that consists of a dinner plate, a desert plate, a bread-and-butter plate, teacup, and saucer would cost around $255. This china setting can be purchased at any of the Tiffany stores or at the Tiffany website.

If Tiffany is out of your price range, there are other designs to choose from. Lenox offers a variety of designs for Christmas china. One of their more popular designs is Winter Greetings. This ivory bone china bears the artwork of Catherine McClung. The design consists of a wreath of holly and evergreen decorated with birds and topped with a red and gold bow. Each dish is accented with 24 karat gold. This design is not only available for the place settings but also the serving dishes, table decor, and other dinnerware items. A 12 piece dinnerware set consisting of 4 dinner plates, 4 desert plates, and 4 mugs costs $189.95. Lenox also allows their customers to buy dishes individually.

Another Christmas favorite by Lenox is the Holiday design. The Holiday design originated in 1974 and has become Lenox's most popular and most familiar Christmas design. This design of simple holly wreath encompassed fine bone china and is offset by a 24 karat gold band. A five piece Holiday setting for one consists of a dinner plate, a desert/salad plate, a bread and butter plate, a tea cup, and saucer and costs $99.95. The Holiday design is also available in other dinnerware pieces, serving dishes, and table decor. Lenox also allows its customers to buy the Holiday china by piece. All Lenox Christmas china is available at Lenox outlet stores and at the Lennox website.

Waterford is well known for its crystal and porcelain Christmas ornaments and figurines. The company may not offer Christmas china officially, but their Trapani fine china design is elegant enough for the holidays. This translucent china is adorned with classic but exquisite red and gold diamond design. All of the dishes are accented with a raised gold beading on a red background and trimmed with gold. This design is available in dinnerware and serving dishes. A five piece setting of the Trapani china for one is $115, and individual pieces can be purchases separately. Waterford's Trapani china is available at Bloomingdales, Dillards, and other fine stores. This china can also be purchased on the Waterford website.

Nikko Christmas is famous for the unique Christmastime design which has been a favorite for 30 years. This fine bone china consists of octagonal shaped dishes decorated with a Victorian Christmas tree laden with toys and has a green border. This design is available in dinnerware, serving dishes, and table decor. Each dish from the Christmastime collection can be purchased individually. A five piece place setting for one consists of a dinner plate, a salad plate, bowl, teacup, and saucer and costs $49.99. You can purchase this china at www.dinnerwaredepot.com.

If all else fails, Target carries several lovely Christmas china designs. Their top-most rated Christmas design is Porcelain Snowflake. This simple yet beautiful design consists of a singular silver snowflake inside a silver circle. Each dish is trimmed with a silver band around the rim. The Porcelain Snowflake collection consists of dinnerware and serving trays. These dishes are sold in sets of four and their prices range from $14.99-$24.99. The Porcelain Snowflake collection can be purchased at your local Target or on the Target website.

These designs are a mere few of the designs for Christmas china on the market today. So whether you're in need of new Christmas china or are buying your first set, there's a design and price tag to meet every taste.