Tips for fun, festive Hanukkah decoration ideas

Discover fun, festive decoration ideas to make your Hanukkah celebration all the more memorable this year.
Hanukkah is the Jewish Festival of Lights, celebrated for eight days beginning on the 25th of Kislev in the Hebrew calendar. Despite the fact that Hanukkah and Christmas are often celebrated within days or weeks of each other, the purpose of these holidays is quite different. Hanukkah, technically a minor holiday within Judaism, celebrates the miracle of a day's worth of lamp oil that lasted for eight days during the re-dedication of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem.

Since this is classified as a minor holiday, there are only a few traditional Hanukkah decorations. Conservative Jewish families generally choose not to use any more than the following three ornaments during the eight days of Hanukkah:

The menorah is an eight-spindled candlestick that features one candle for each day of the festival, plus an extra for practical purposes. Some only feature seven candles — one to represent each extra day of light from the oil. This ornament is the most important decorative feature of Hanukkah.

The dreidel is a children's toy that has found its way into the category of a holiday ornament. The toy is a spinning wooden top with four flat sides, each inscribed with a Hebrew letter. The four letters are an acronym that translates as "a great miracle happened there." Modern and traditional homes use dreidels as ornaments during Hanukkah, often fashioning them from paper.

Paper chains, banners and other decorations are traditional for many Jewish holidays. Not only are they simple to make and hang around the house, but they are educational for the children who inscribe each chain with Hebrew symbols.

Modern Jewish families often incorporate secular holiday symbols into their homes, such as snowflakes, snowmen, twinkle lights and even a Hanukkah bush. Aside from these ornaments, you may wish to decorate with extra candles and candlesticks, and items coloured cobalt blue and white. These colours correspond to the Israeli flag, although there are many explanations as to why blue and white are important for Hanukkah. For example, the 1864 poem "Judah's Colors" proclaimed that blue and white are bound to all Judah's descendants.

To incorporate Hanukkah into your home, try starting with just a few ideas. Once you've gathered a few pieces, you can add more decorations and celebrate the holiday in style.