Christmas is fast approaching, so it’s time to deck the halls with festive displays! These 6 Christmas decorations are recognized as the largest of their kind in the world. Let’s count down from the smallest to the tallest.

#6: Largest Gingerbread House: Bryan, Texas, United States 🇺🇸 The world’s largest gingerbread house was big enough to house a family of five! This life-sized display had a 2,520 square foot floor plan with a length of 60 feet, width of 42 feet, and height of over 10 feet at its tallest point. It was completely edible, but it contained 35,823,400 calories! The Texas A&M Traditions Club sold $3 tickets for a visit to the house to the public in 2013. The house raised more than $150,000, all of which was donated to a nearby St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital.

#5: Largest Christmas Ornament: Dubai, United Arab Emirates 🇦🇪

Measuring over 21 feet tall and 15 feet in diameter, the world’s largest Christmas ornament weighed 2,425 pounds. That’s about the weight of an elephant calf! Pieces of the ornament were flown to the Dubai in 2018 inside 12 crates and 3 containers. Once the ornament pieces arrived, it took a team of 15 people two nights to assemble it. It took another full night to hoist it to the ceiling alongside 4 other giant ornaments using a forklift, a spider lift, and two boom lifts. The Dubai Mall itself also holds a Guinness World Record for its size. It’s the world’s largest in total area with a floor plan covering 12.1 million square feet!

#4: Largest Santa Statue: Águeda, Portugal 🇵🇹

Measuring over 69 feet tall, 30 feet wide, and 41 feet deep, the world’s largest Santa-shaped structure is made with 8 tons of aluminum and iron! At night, this giant Santa lights up with 110,000 LED lights. Even the giant present Santa sits on is lit! The Municipality of Águeda, a Portuguese organization, constructed this monument in 2016 to boost tourism. Today, the staggering Santa draws tourists from around the world.

#3: Largest Christmas Stocking: Carrara, Tuscany, Italy 🇮🇹

The largest Christmas stocking in the world is over 168 feet long and over 70 feet wide from heel to toe! In 2011, volunteers for Pubblica Assistenza Carrara e Sezioni, an Italian volunteer emergency services organization, sewed this giant sock. As part of the record, the stocking was required to be filled with presents, so volunteers for the charity filled the giant stocking with candy-filled balloons. Even sweeter, the foundation used the reward money to help elderly people in the community.

#2: Tallest Natural Christmas Tree: Seattle, Washington, United States 🇺🇸

The tallest natural Christmas tree was erected in 1950! The 212-foot-tall Douglass fir was decorated with over 3,600 lights and displayed outside the Northgate Shopping Center in Seattle, Washington. Many attempts to grow a larger tree have been made since, but as of 2024, the 79-year-old record still stands.

#1: Tallest Artificial Christmas Tree: Colombo, Sri Lanka

Measuring in at over 236 feet inches tall and over 55 feet wide, the largest artificial tree in the world was built by 150 people! Originally erected for a 3-day holiday carnival in 2016, this giant tree is still on display today. Its frame is made from scrap metal, wood and covered with plastic netting and approximately one million natural pine cones painted gold, green, red and silver. The tree is lit with 600,000 LED bulbs and topped by a 20-foot-tall Star of Bethlehem weighing about 130 pounds!

Decorating for Christmas is one of my favorite ways to get into the holiday spirit. Whether you like to decorate, volunteer, cook, or carol, I hope you feel (and share) lots of Christmas cheer this holiday season! 👓