Need tips for decorating outside for Christmas

[ksr5377]

We recently moved and the little ones would love it if we got a few lights up outside.  DH, whom we lovingly refer to as the Grinch this time of year, will not have anything to do with decorating outside.  So it's up to me!.  I have thought about getting those weird projector lights because they seem easy.  While I don't love the way they look it would work for the kids.  What I would love to do is wrap the trunks of the trees in our small orchard with a strand of lights each.  However, to get electricity there we would need to have an extension cord running across the driveway. I don't think it's a great idea to be driving over the extension cord.  Can anyone think of another way to do this?  I was thinking solar powered Christmas lights would be perfect! Do those exist?

 

ETA: Any outdoor decor ideas that aren't difficult are welcome!

Edited December 13, 2016 by ksr5377

[Happy]

How much traffic does the driveway get? I agree driving over a cord would not be my first choice, but I'll tell you I've done it. ;) Could you get more cords and go around the driveway so they wouldn't get smushed all the time? Or up and over somehow?

 

Do you have bushes around your home? A few strings of lights in the bushes really goes a long way. Lights and garland over the front door is great, too.

 

Wreaths on the doors, of course. If you don't have enough wreaths, hit the sales after Christmas.

 

Of course, those blow up decorations are fun and EASY. I leave mine going day and night.

[AK_Mom4]

If I were getting decorations, Target had blow ups Star Wars Christmas guys - BB8 and a storm trooper and some others. Get a couple of those and one of those light show things that are so popular this year and so a Star Wars Christmas theme! Put a Millenium Falcon in the center of a wreath for your door.

 

We used to have lights on the house but got it repainted last summer so they all came down. DH is not fond of ladders so they won't be going back up. I love lights so I actually miss them a bit this year - but not enough to climb up there myself.

[Aura]

Projector lights require extension cords...unless you spend big $$$ to get solar powered.  :glare: I almost got some this year because I didn't want to hang up the lights, but I returned them because I didn't want an extension cord stretched across the yard.

 

You can definitely get solar-powered lights. They're a bit pricier, but it could be worth it since (1) you're not using your homes electricity, so it's a one-time up-front cost instead of something you keep paying for, and (2) no extension cords  :hurray:

 

What about the net lights on bushes? For me, it would be close enough to the house so I don't have to stretch out long extension cords. 

 

I think stringing them on the tree trunks is nice. I like that look. I don't like extension cords (obviously), so I don't do that. I'd rather do more work and string them on the eaves of the house. YMMV

 

I don't think driving over the extension cords would be an issue. I know lots of people that do and don't have any problems, as long as it's an outdoor, heavy-duty cord. It's more personal taste on my part.

 

I like stringing lights on the eaves. It's work, but it's worth it to me for how it looks.

 

[Mabelen]

Solar lights solve the cord problem.

[matrips]

My folks always put a nice wreath on their front door, with a spotlight aimed at it. It was simple and really nice.

 

We do the standard lights on the eaves and front bushes, plus Dh made a life size Grinch for the hard who appears to be taking our lights down 😮

[Guest]

I agree with Aura. Net lights on bushes are easy.  

 

Change out the porch light for red, green, or both if you have multiple.

 

We run extension cords everywhere because we are big fans of the blow ups for Halloween and Christmas. I haven't had a problem with them being driven over if you use the heavy duty outdoor ones. If you have a driveway with expansion joints you could always try and run it in the joint and then duct tape over it for these two weeks they'll be up. I think it will be fine. Our front pasture looks like an inflatable factory exploded over it so we have cords run everywhere that get run over by trucks, tractors and everything else and they're still working fine. (We pride ourselves on our overwhelming amount of inflatables. It sounds like a jetliner taking off when you walk out our front door. :) )  

 

You can always look for the plywood painted cut outs that some businesses sell- around here places that sell yard swings and other outdoor decor always have them available. Grab some of those and some spotlights and instant holiday cheer. 

 

 

[Pippen]

I'm in the same situation in that any outdoor decorations happening here are going to be done by me.  That means nothing too complicated, too time consuming, or too high up.

 

This year I have a wreath on the door, lights on the front bushes near the house, and lights wrapped around the back deck (the latter so I can see them outside my kitchen. I also have my old sled propped against the house with a dollar store snowman and a small set of battery operated LED lights that I only turn on for a few hours each evening. I haven't had to change the batteries yet, and it was easy for me not having to deal with another extension cord.

 

I've done lights around the inside front window before. 

 

Changing the outside porch light bulb to red or green could be doable if it isn't too high up. 

 

I wish I would have invested in some sort of wire trees with lights (but those that spike into the ground). It would be fast and easy and I think I would have done it in years where I was pressed for time and didn't want to mess with stringing lights in the bushes.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Home-Accents-Holiday-LED-Lighted-Spiral-Tree-2-Pack-TY-S46-C/206954535

 

[itsheresomewhere]

Solar powered Christmas lights. We use those to decorate the backyard. They work really well and are not expensive. Check target and the home improvement stores.

 

If you have tomato cages- turn them upside down, wrap some lights around them for instant Christmas trees. .

[milovany]

I just purchased about 30 dollar store white plastic snowflake ornaments ($3) and am going to hang them at different lengths from the overhang over our front door (we have an extended one; it goes 4 to 6 feet out beyond the door).  I purchased a bag full of blue and silver round ornaments from Goodwill and took a white plate from the kitchen, put a white pillar candle on it and piled the ornaments around it and set that outside by the front door (we have a little table there for things like this).  We tape white paper snowflakes on the window.  A local nursery sells greenery garlands for $1/foot so $18 worth will go around the front door. I like these things because they can go beyond Christmas, into February really.  That's what I think about when I'm setting it up around the doorway this time of year.  My husband does do the lights across the front of the house for us, thankfully. 

 

I confess, I personally don't like the projector lights and would much rather make something work with the lights on the trees and the cords.  Can you unplug and move the cord at night/early morning and then and replug again at night?  This year you may have to do whatever, though, because of the move.  It takes time to figure out what to do and sometimes you have to do what's easy for the kids' sake.