• Take a trip to the beach for natural, free Christmas decorations.sea-star image by Anna Telnova from Fotolia.com
  
  In Florida, even though it's warm year-round, many people still choose to hang traditional Christmas decorations during the holidays. Fake snow, imported evergreen trees and inflatable snowmen are all popular. However, others choose to create a uniquely Floridian Christmas display composed of objects unique to the state. Florida-style Christmas decorations include found items from the beach, palm fronds and sand instead of snow.
  
  

Shells

• Shells are nature's ornaments. Many varieties of shells have natural holes running through them, making them perfect for stringing or attaching to hooks. Make shell garlands, hang shells from your tree's branches or add shells to wreaths and centerpieces for natural and colorful Floridian Christmas decorations. Use shells instead of bows to adorn gifts, too.
  
  

Driftwood

• Driftwood may not be a classic Christmas decoration but it lends itself to many different creative Christmas crafts. Driftwood is soft, malleable and easy to work with. The time it has spent at sea gives it an aged shape and feel that is difficult to emulate artificially. Hunt for driftwood at your local beach. Look for interesting shapes, textures and colors. String driftwood together on thread or twine like beads to make a garland, and hang it from a tree or from a doorway. Create driftwood reindeer with some brown and red paint (red for Rudolph's nose) and arrange them on your mantle or dining room table to evoke a driftwood Christmas scene.
  
  

Starfish

• Top your tree with a dried starfish in place of the traditional Christmas star. Starfish are plentiful in Florida waters and they often wash up on the beach and dry in the sun. Make a Christmastime trip to the beach with your family and stock up. Look for a large starfish for the top of the tree and collect smaller specimens to use as ornaments. Cover large starfish in silver or gold glitter for extra sparkle. Hang smaller starfish from garlands or string them together for a chain of Bethlehem-style stars. Hang the chain in a doorway with a little mistletoe.