While many of us prepare to decorate our homes, Sandi Boughman wrote to see if I could help her decorate her family page on AOL. So here are a few of my favorite graphics pages. (If I selected one you were going to submit don't worry about it, you can still send it in.)

•  www.spundreams.com/madebymary. People are constantly asking me to find free graphics and artwork for them to use to decorate their personal Web pages. And although there are a ton of sites that offer everything from wallpaper to banners and animations to borders, some of the most original come from the Made by Mary site.

You can adopt a Snow Buddy, or a Holiday Frog. You can download the beautiful "Christmas Angels" wallpaper or one that's as cute as a moose -- Chris Moose. But my favorites are her sensational seasonal snow globes. You ought to look at all of them, even if you don't have a Web page to put them on.

•  www.christmas-graphics.com. I know there are those of you with more than just a page to decorate. So, for anyone who needs a great big gob of graphics, this is probably what you need. Hundreds of art pieces and animations with a choice of background colors are all collected and ready for you to give them a good home. They offer everything from twinkling trees to a lot of holly. (Santa's skating looks a lot like mine.)

•  http://holidaycursors.cometsystems.com . If you've seen all those great cursors on other sites and wonder where to find them, comet cursors are available to suit every taste. Like Harry Potter? There's a magician's cap and wand. Love your dog more than life? Choose between several pointing pooches. Looking for that final holiday dazzle? There's a menorah, a kinarah, Santas, snowflakes and thousands more. (AOL users will have to sign on through Internet Explorer or another browser to download the free file).

•  http://janimations.users3.50megs.com. Aside from the obvious love of the name -- this is another site filled with creative and unique imagery that can be yours for the asking. There are angels we can see on high, silver bells (gold ones, too) and, of course, the little drummer penguin. Pages are kept small to encourage faster loading. And each has it's own seasonal song playing softly.

•  www.mymerrychristmas.com. This one isn't a graphics page. It just has all kinds of news from the North Pole. In the spirit of the season, there are no popups, no banner ads and no sales pitches anywhere. What is here is a variety of heartwarming stories and heartfelt wishes.

Read some from readers about their best Christmas ever. Visit Elf Ed Zachary and hear his views on how the holidays should be handled. Or read the letters to Elf Ernest, head of Santa's protocol and public relations department, to see how he tackles the tough questions. Things like: How old is Santa? What's his favorite holiday? What if my parents can't afford Christmas this year? This site brings us back to the reason for the season.

Jan Perry is a freelance writer for The Post. Don't forget to Light Up the Sites by sending an e-mail or letter with your favorite holiday Web site (Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or Ramadan) with a description (50 words or less) of why you like that site best. Submissions will be included in the Dec. 23 "Site Seeing" column. The page that's judged best overall (theme, design, content, ease of navigation) will win a holiday prize (worth $20) for the person who submits it. Entries must be received by midnight on Dec. 18. Send e-mails to SiteSeer2K@aol.com (subject: Light Up the Sites Contest). Letters should be sent to Light Up the Sites Contest, Cincinnati Post Living, 125 E. Court Street, Cincinnati, 45202.