Outdoor Christmas Decorating -
Decorate Your Yard, Too!!

Let's Talk Lights!

Whether your taste runs to the simple and elegant, or the gaudy and garish, I recommend a combination of home-made and store-bought for a real one-of-a-kind display.

Simple strings of plain white lights wrapped around tree branches are absolutely gorgeous. They give the impression of starlit frost on the tree, and are simple to do, though it will take some time to get it done.

Depending on the size of the tree, you may need up to 10 strings of 100 bulbs to do a truly spectacular job for this. The idea is to wrap each strand around individual branches, right out to the tips.

For very large trees, its best to have someone standing a ways back on the ground, and only do about 1 out of every five or 10 branches.

We are not talking about winding the lights around simply the outside of the tree as many municipalities unfortunately are apt to do at this time of year. What we're aiming for is not a spiral, but a frosted tree!

If done right, outdoor Christmas decorating can be truly magical, as well as being very simple!

Depending on how much work you wish to do, you can leave these lights on all year. If you intend to take them down, it will take a lot longer than putting them up. For this reason, most towns simply cut them off of the trees and buy new ones every year. For me, this is simply NOT in the budget!

Net lights are wonderful for low bushes, especially trimmed ones. Small evergreen hedges or privet work well with these lights, and they are a breeze to put on and take off. Net lights are specially made for outdoor Christmas decorating, and are UL tested and approved, so safety is usually not an issue.

Of course, always check to be sure there are no frayed wires, just in case.

Rope lights are great along walkways and railings, and can be very beautiful outlining windows. They are also made for outdoor Christmas decorating, and experience says they are virtually indestructible.

They are great for folks that don't have a lot of hours for decorating, or have a hard time getting around. If they are used to outline windows, they can be safely used indoors as well as out, keeping you warm as well!

My father is a big fan of lighted deer sculptures. He sets out three or four of his collection in the front yard every year, and they are simply beautiful - especially at night after a snowfall. He sets them up between two beautiful, blue fold-down Christmas trees, framing the large bay window in front of his house. It is a breath-taking and very simple display.

Creating small vignettes, as my father does, is a wonderful way of making a simple and elegant statement with your outdoor Christmas decorating!

Icicle lights are also a wonderful invention! More and more people use them every year. They aren't just for the front of the house, either... they look absolutely beautiful hanging from the railing on the back deck, or around the roof-line of a gazebo.

Resin and plastic Nativity sets have also come a long way since their beginnings. There are gorgeous life-sized sets for use in outdoor Christmas decorating. They come with the lights, or they can be highlighted with individual spotlights. Either way they can be breathtaking.

Moving toward the more fantastic, there are full-sized and larger-than-life Santas, some complete with sleighs and reindeer! Snow-people abound, from small porch-sitters to inflatables that can tower over the house!

Other items might include lining your front walk with 3' candles or candy-canes, all pre-lit and ready to set up. There are several styles of luminaries, from strings of several attached to one cord, to pottery 'bags' for use with real candles.

The choices are truly limited only by your imagination and budget. Speaking of budgets... If you want more than you can afford (as I always do!), you can always buy a couple of items for this year, and use the rest of the decorating budget to pick these little wonders up at the half-off (or better) sales after Christmas!

Creative Ways to Brighten Entrances

If you have a large front porch, setting up a vignette for the holidays might be an option. Greenery wrapped around pillars and porch railings can make a very elegant statement. Garlands of pine, real or artificial, can be decorated with bows, plastic Christmas ornaments, and lights.

There are some wonderful pre-lit artificial garlands out there, decorated as well with bows, ornaments, plastic fruits and even 'ice crystals!'

Very large, plain red bows look elegant tied to the intermediate railing posts all by themselves. This will add a very simple and sophisticated look to your outdoor Christmas decorating.

While I am not a big fan, buntings can also be hung along railings.

I have a friend who puts up a real sleigh on her front porch, filled to the brim with wrapped packages, pots of artificial poinsettias and other goodies.

I, on the other hand, have a very small porch. I also have a very large, plain front yard. For this reason, I keep my outdoor Christmas decorating simple and relatively quiet.

I wrap a few empty boxes of various sizes, put big wonderful bows on them, and stack them on a bale of straw in the corner. My solitary post gets a pre-lit garland wrapped in a wide spiral around it, and a nice big wreath gets hung on the front door.

This, along with the big tree inside the front window, creates a nice, quiet, tasteful holiday setting.

There are door kits available in stores these days to make your front door look as though it were a wrapped present, and there are special colored lights to put in the lamp which glow in solid or multi-colored rays.

Extra lighting is always good around the doors in winter, especially during or after a good snow. If the porch is part of your outdoor Christmas decorating, a nice spot-light will not only highlight your handiwork, but will also keep family and guests safer on slippery sidewalks!

By doing a little planning now for those entryway decorations, you'll be organized and ready to go when the time comes to get the job done!

Craft Decorations with Nature in Mind

One of my favorite pass-times is making bird-food Christmas ornaments. We hang them by the dozens, in every tree and bush in the yard! They are very simple to make, a healthy treat for the birds and are beautiful tied onto the branches with small red and green ribbon bows.

The traditional popcorn and cranberry garlands are also great food for the wildlife, and a pretty addition to evergreens and holly bushes. They are simple to make as well, and any child old enough to hold a needle will be more than willing to help - be sure to make extra for snacking!!

Keep in mind that flavors, salt and butter are no-nos for the decorations, so keep the snacks and craft materials separate!

A bale of straw can be an endless source of holiday decorating ideas!! Ornaments which can be crafted from straw are nearly endless, from intricate stars and animal shapes to braid and craft.

Straw has also been a traditional base material for beautifully hand-crafted wreaths.

Corn husks can work much in the same way, and corn husk dolls have many uses in addition to being great decorations!

Pine cones, gilded leaves, fruits and vegetables have always found their way into both indoor and outdoor Christmas decorating schemes.

Now there are even edible gold and silver leaf products to liven up the occasional apple or pear in a wreath or centerpiece.

Grape vine wreaths have been popular for centuries, and can be found both plain and decorated in many stores. It is quite simple, however, to make your own if you have a good source of vines to work with.

Working With the Weather

So far as I know, working in freezing temperatures, rain or snow is not something most people look forward to. I know I don't! Organize now, and the work will go faster and be much more fun later!

I do most of my outdoor Christmas decorating in the fall. Any lights are usually already in place before Thanksgiving - they simply don't get turned on.

For other types of decorations, I would suggest getting everything ready before Thanksgiving weekend, and stage it all in the garage or somewhere handy to await decorating day.

Though retail stores begin staging their Christmas displays during September (and it seems to get earlier every year at that), I don't really recommend putting up holiday decorations until after Thanksgiving. Much earlier, and even the best of displays will be more than boring by New Years.

The weekend after Thanksgiving is about the best time I can think of. Most people have a four-day weekend, and so plenty of time to be had at home. In the Midwest where I live, at least, the weather is usually pretty nice.

If everything is staged, ready to simply set out, and the lights have already been done, it won't take any time at all to create the perfect scene(s) in the yard!

I don't really recommend shopping on 'Black Friday' - the day after Thanksgiving, for several reasons, leaving even more time for decorating.

Even though I don't really mind crowds all that much, shopping on that day is simply overwhelming - especially with children in tow.

Yes, there are some good sales going on that day, but the trouble and hassle really aren't worth it, and if you've been organized about Christmas for a while, you can find better deals at other times.

Please, whatever you do, don't go out on Black Friday looking for deals on holiday decorations. If sales are what you are waiting for, then wait until AFTER the holiday is over.

There might be some nice mark-downs, but you will have to fight to get what you want, will brave throngs of people, and it really will be a big waste of both your time and your budget.

Besides - after Christmas everything holiday related is on sale!

General Hints and Tips for Outdoor Christmas Decorating

First, you will not like some things as well in your home or yard as you did in the store. Everything looks wonderful in the store! Its supposed to!!!

However... That 20' Santa might not look so great next to that life-sized pre-lit reindeer....

Secondly, if you spend all of your cash on outdoor Christmas decorating, you will have less to spend on other things you and your family are hoping to do during the season. It is much better to buy a few well-chosen items and build your outdoor Christmas decorating plan over a few seasons.

If you have a large yard, and wish to set up several smaller displays, keep them separated by theme as well as distance. Think in terms of creating a series of paintings. This will help to keep some order and avoid having everything in a state of chaos.

Each 'painting' can have its own theme, and everything will look alright so long as those themes are separated by enough distance to highlight each to its own.

Use your space. Spread things out a little bit!! If you have that life-sized Nativity with all its characters and animals, use the entire yard. Don't try to fit 20 5' tall figures in 30 feet of space!

Outdoor Christmas decorating is just that... its decorating. Just like inside, you don't want everything all piled up on top of each other! Spread it out, and give it its own voice!

No one should be walking through the snow anyway, and cords should not be a problem. Check the specs on the paperwork that comes with your display, and be sure to use only approved cordage for the electric.

Mix in some old-fashioned, unlit items into your outdoor Christmas decorating. It will save some money on the electric bill, and will tone down a display that has gotten out of hand. You could replace some of the light-up stuff with a single well-placed spotlight.

Another benefit of outdoor Christmas decorating with spotlights is their variety. With different bulb covers, you can have any color you wish, or several! There are even color wheels that can be attached to a spotlight so that 4 different colors alternate throughout the evening!

And finally...

Check out our crafts section (coming soon!) of the site! There are many projects there for both indoor and outdoor Christmas decorating.

Top: Outdoor Christmas Decorating