Decorate Mac OS X for the Holidays with these (mostly) free apps

Almost everyone loves to decorate for the holidays. No need to leave your Mac without yuletide splendor this holiday season. I have put together five of my favorite desktop decorations for you to check out.

• SnowFall – This is one of my favorites, and Apple uses it in their Apple Stores during the holidays. It is free to download.
• MacLampsX – Inspired by Tiger Technologies’ Holiday Lights, MacLampsX allows you to decorate for Christmas, or any other holiday with user-creatable bulbs, as well as a small set of defaults. It is just as simple as clicking on the file, and the lights start flashing. Who does not want a set of Christmas lights lighting up around the border of your Mac? It is free to download.
• X-MasTree – X-MasTree is a little app that places a Christmas tree on your desktop, complete with a countdown to Christmas Day itself. There are settings to customize the lights, tree, and more. What kind of holiday desktop does not have a Christmas tree? It is free to download.
• Winter Holiday Icons – This is a set of 7 icons that you can use at your will to make your dock a little more festive this holiday season. If you do not know already, all you need to do to change your icon is right click on the application, and go to “get info.” Once there, simply drag and drop your new icon on top of the old one in the top left corner of the get info window. The icons are free to download.
• 3D-ChristmasScreenSaver – This is the only product on the list that costs money, but I think it is well worth it at $9.95. Get into the Christmas spirit with this jolly 3D screensaver which features Santa delivering presents in his sleigh. However, Santa is a slacker, so as the reindeer pull his fat butt thru the sky, his friendly elf sidekick does all the hard work! With heaps of configuration options—including a countdown to Christmas Day, and over 50 Christmas carols as background music that will really set your teeth on edge—this is fun for the whole family.

Well, there you have it; just some ideas to help spread the holiday cheer on your desktop. You have any ideas? Please share them.