Christmas is one of the holidays that I love to go all out. Decorations are a must inside and outside our home. The more festive it looks around home, the better. I don’t care that often no one else even gets to see them. You can imagine, I have tried many many different types of decorations. I have had tons of Christmas trees. I have oodles of ornaments. Today I want to tell you about my Christmas Inflatables investment.

Christmas Inflatables Going All Out

Our family does not ease into anything. We go big or we just go home. Christmas inflatables were no different for us. We didn’t go buy just one, we went and bought four. We decided they were going on our roof! Lovely plan, right?

Wrong! We went with a Santa, a Rudolph, and two snowmen. They were the smaller inflatables 3 to 4 foot ones, not the really big ones 6 to 8 foot. We live in Tennessee, a place where during winter there is a lot of wind. Inflatables on the roof will be catching ALL the wind. A thought we really should have considered. If you do not have them anchored well they will not stay standing up. When they fall, that leaves someone having to climb to the roof, stand them back up and re-anchor. If you are lucky they will not break their ropes, leaving you needing a whole new way to tie down. Despite how adorable they were up there, inflatables on the roof was a ton of work. We decided after the first year we would not be doing that again.

Did They All Survive the Season

We purchased these inflatables at Walmart. We did not buy really expensive ones. Each of them were around $10 to $20. They all came with everything needed to set them up. Most of them survived the approximate month they lived on the roof. We did lose Rudolph to wind damage. One of the snowmen was a little weathered and Santa was a bit torn, but still usable. The same Santa had been used this year, but sadly has lived out his life. There is just no way to keep him inflated. I believe it to be his compressor. He still managed to live out a good four or five years of use. He is the first to simply wear out. Pretty amazing in my opinion!

Still Buy Christmas Inflatables?

We indeed continue to build our Christmas Inflatables collection. We currently have five smaller inflatables. A Minion, Snoopy, a reindeer not Rudolph, and two snowmen, one of which weathered the roof. My husband loved the really large inflatables so we now have two of those as well, a Santa and another snowman. We are planning to replace our Santa that we lost this year. Most of our inflatables came from Walmart but we did buy a few from Lowes. They seem to be on the same scale of quality. I will buy from which place has the best price.

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Traditional Decoration

After our first year with our Christmas Inflatables on the roof we decided to move them down a few levels. We placed inflatables outside on the ground. We experienced some of the same issues as on the roof but they were easier to handle since no special skills were required, like scaling a roof. It works and I suppose this is what most people do with their Christmas Inflatables. Not my family!

Nontraditional Decorating

After the first couple years of using our Christmas Inflatables outside we decided that maybe they would benefit us better from inside our home. We have since began using all our small inflatables inside the house each year. This prevents them from the wear and tear of the weather and helps them to last even longer.

This year I have two in my den and three in my living room. It can be so fun to move them around finding where they fit in the best. They are great for filling voids where nothing else can really work. Our two larger inflatables must still be placed outside. They are much too tall for the house. On a positive note we have used our Santa two years and he is still doing well. We have not used these every year just the years we are brave enough to put them up. We have learned a few lessons about these large inflatables.

Large Christmas Inflatables

The large Christmas Inflatables seem to be made of pretty high quality material. They do better in the elements than the smaller inflatables. They do cost a substantial amount more. The large inflatables will set you back around $70 to $80. They have everything you need to set them up and unlike the small inflatables include a stand with legs and stakes that they sit on. We purchased both our large inflatables from Walmart.

So What About Those Lessons

The large inflatables are very very hard to keep anchored in wind even on the ground. They are very tall so they catch a lot of wind. Despite using the stakes and ropes provided I could just not keep these inflatables standing up. Some of the stakes were eventually broken by them falling over. If you want to use these you are going to need more support than what comes with them. Us being the farming type decided to go with some step in fence posts for support. These have been working great so far. The posts will set you back a couple dollars per post at Tractor Supply or Rural King. You will need four for each inflatable. Consider in the extra support and it’s cost when you are considering buying these.

Worth the Investment

Christmas inflatables have been money well spent for us. All of the family love them. We definitely will be getting more smaller inflatables as we need or find a place for them. The larger ones are about 50/50 chance. Since they require extra items to anchor them and they cost more I want to know they are going to last a good deal of years. I have one that has lasted two years. That is about a $30 a year investment. I would like to get that down to at least $10 or below.

Tip Time: if you want to try inflatables for yourself but don’t want to pay quite this much, I can help. Find them after the holiday. You can get them from 25% to 75% off depending on how long they sit on the shelf. Since I don’t really need anymore right now these are the deals I am waiting for. If there is something you want though you risk not being able to find it if you wait for the after season sales. If I find one I love I go ahead and get it. My Minion was one I bought as soon as I saw it and it sold out pretty fast. I found Snoopy on sale and this is the first year I am using him. He is only 3 feet tall. The more popular the character the more likely for it to disappear quickly.

In Closing

I find Christmas Inflatables to be a wonderful part of our Christmas decorating. My son loves setting them all up. He is more upset with the inflatables missing than if there is no tree.

They are very easy to use. Plug them into an outlet or extension cord and they start to inflate. Next, move them a bit to level them up and that is pretty much it. Since inflatables have lights they draw attention to themselves, no further decorating required. I do like decorating some of them with tinsel. Christmas lights are not an option because they are to heavy. If there is to much weight the inflatable will collapse.

Most inflatables don’t require anything more than their cost. I have had a great experience with their quality and the time of use I get from them. I find they’re a good investment for my family.

If you have a place to set them up and the extra money I would say they would be a great addition to your decorating. If you don’t have space in your yard or home these would be a bad investment. They only have one use. They are not versatile. Unless you want to get really creative and use a deflated snowman as a melted one. Yes, I have done that. We make decorating fun around here!

Last but not least before purchasing inflatables consider your pets. My fur baby is a cat. She does not mess with any of my decorations except she loves laying under my tree on the soft tree skirt. If you have dogs or cats that like to attack you should probably consider that in your decision.

My Star Rating

This is just my own personal experience with Christmas Inflatables. The choice is ultimately up to you. From my own personal experience I give them a 4 out of 5 star rating. I would have voted a 5 had it not been for the couple issues (cons) I had struggling with keeping them standing up even on the ground or the fact the stakes are not enough with the large ones. These are small cons for the joy they have given my family and I. The pros outweigh the cons many times over.

Share Your Experience with Christmas Inflatables

I would love to know others experience with Christmas Inflatables? Did you have a positive or negative experience? Do you have a nontraditional decorating idea you would like to share that you do? Please share your experience and decorating ideas with me in the comments.

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