Most of us just put up Christmas decorations each year to make our homes feel festive and bright, and because they look neat and reflect our personal sense of style.
But every standard Christmas decoration, from the stockings to the wreath to the tree, has a symbolic meaning that most people are unaware of, most of which are tied to the holiday's Christian roots.
The wreath is a pretty straightforward symbol of Christ, meant to symbolize the crown of thorns he wore on his head while he hung on the cross, with red berries symbolizing drops of his blood.
Candy canes are supposedly shaped to look like the shepherd's staff, and some say the red stripe symbolizes the blood of Christ and the white stripe symbolizes purity.
And in keeping with the "blood of Christ" theme- according to legend holly berries were once white, but blood shed by Christ stained them red.
In truth, some holly bushes still produce yellow or white berries, and those red berries start out green and only turn red when they're ripe.
See The Hidden Symbolism Behind Your Favorite Christmas Decorations here
Most elements of Christmas originate from the Druid festival of Yule (hence Yuletide, Yule logs, etc). The tree, the decorations, the mistletoe, the gifts, the lights, the meals, the fires, the 12 days, the colors, the wreaths, etc. They all come with real explanations that make sense if you go to the origins and don't waste time on Christian rationalizations.
Here's a short one:
http://www.blackhillscelticevents.org/Events/CelticXmas.htm
Longer but interesting:
http://www.ibtimes.com/winter-solstice-2014-3-things-know-about-pagan-yule-celebrations-1763756
Actually, Easter is worse in that regard. It's even still called by the name of the pagan God (while Yule is a footnote in Christmas), and the kids activities for the day remain completely pagan fertility rituals (eggs, rabbits, etc).