One of my favourite things about visiting the US Gift Fairs is getting a sneak peak at the coming Christmas Trends. Here are 5 of the prominent Christmas Trends spotted at the Dallas Gift Fair in January.

1. A feminine Touch. There were lots of examples of muted tones of pink, green and blue, reminiscent of the 40's and 50's. While most of the examples we saw were a trees full of these colours, another option would be to use your existing silver or gold as a base and add these soft tones as an accent.

2. Icicles Icicles in so many different sizes, but predominantly in the traditional clear finish. Gorgeous accent to any tree.

3. Touch of Black We saw black used in combination with red and silver (as shown above) as well as a more formal palette using gold, silver, black and pewter tones.

4. Animal Fun Animal prints were every where. Baubles, ribbons, table pieces. Wild!

5. Elves Elves continue to show their popularity and are popping up in all the different colour ranges.

So, what do you think? Are you likely to incorporate any of these colours and trends into your Christmas decorating for 2013?