We start decorating for the holidays as soon as the Thanksgiving mess is cleaned up and I’m ready this year! I’m already feeling like I’m in the spirit. Today I’m sharing some really easy tips for keeping your holidays energy efficient. We decorate, we entertain, but we don’t have to spend a fortune on our utilities to do it all.
Energy Efficient Holiday Decor
We put lights up around the front of the house on the tree. Last year we made sure we were using only LED lights.
These are some amazing facts about LED lights:
- They use 90% less energy than regular incandescent light strings
- They last about 10 times longer
- They’re cooler and more durable
- They’re pretty and super bright!
- They cost WAY less to run than incandescent bulbs.
I was sent a couple set of of these LED Starry String Lights and they are SO fun. They’re really pretty, but they thing that I love is that they’re on a copper wire that you can easily bend and shape around anything you want to light up. So there are TONS of uses for these!
We have a little Christmas tree that we put the lights on and it’s so pretty. They’re dainty but still so bright for such a thin string of lights! And my next energy efficient holiday decorating tip: Use reflective ornaments.
We found a great deal on these shatterproof, reflective balls at Michael’s craft store. When the light bounces off of them the tree looks even more lively. So look for some shiny bling to add to your tree to make your lights shine even more!
One last tip on the holiday decor: For your outside decorations, put the lights on a timer. We have this one and just set it to turn on at dusk, and stay on for 6 hours. So they go on right around 5ish and stay on until we go to bed. No more waking up in the morning and realizing you left the lights on all night long!
Energy Efficient Holiday Entertaining
Food, food, food. That’s what holiday entertaining is all about! We love to have friends and family stop in to hang out and spend time with us over the holidays. Did you know that using your slow cooker, grill (yes, we brave it even in the winter – and by ‘we’ I mean my husband!), and microwave is more energy efficient than firing up your oven and stove? See if you can find ways to incorporate smaller appliances like these into your menu planning.
I found this ah-mazing Slow Cooker Crab Dip recipe from Taste of Home and just had to try it. It’s perfect snacky food to share, and it reheats great too so feel free to make it ahead of time.
This Slow Cooker Crab Dip Recipe is so easy to make and perfect for energy-efficient entertaining! Combine everything but the crab meat in the bottom of your slow cooker. Add the crab and stir slowly to incorporate. Use the back of a spoon to distribute the mixture evenly around the slow cooker. Cook on low for about 2 hours. Garnish with chopped fresh parsley, if desired. Serve with crackers, baguettes, and cut up veggies of your choice.Slow Cooker Crab Dip Recipe
Ingredients
Instructions
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