Do it yourself Free
One weekend, a sheet of plywood and some string lights. Costs almost nothing and still stops traffic.
| Spot | What to get | How big | How many | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A |
42 in. Bunny Silhouette (opens in a new tab)
Amazon
The island. Dead center of the island. This is the best spot on any lot shape, because it is the only place a decoration gets looked at from all the way around. Give it a base or a stake plan that survives being walked past on every side.
|
3' 6" H | 1 | $44 |
| B |
18 in. Giant Easter Eggs, 6 pack (opens in a new tab)
Amazon
6 pieces
Sidekick, left. In the bed between the sidewalk and the house, left of the door. These frame the entry and not the island, so measure from the door and ignore the loop.
|
1' 6" H | 1 | $26.99 |
| C |
Pastel Bunting, 30 ft (opens in a new tab)
Amazon
24 pieces
Sidekick, right. Same bed, right of the door, matching the left.
|
10" H | 1 | $18.99 |
| D |
Solar Path Light Stakes, 10 pack (opens in a new tab)
Amazon
10 pieces
The loop lights. The outer edge of the front arc only, from one entrance around to the other. Set them back 2 ft from the sidewalk. Anything closer gets clipped by a tire the first time somebody swings wide.
|
1' 3" H | 2 | $49.38 |
| E |
Warm White Incandescent Mini Lights, 300 count (opens in a new tab)
Amazon
300 pieces
Roofline and porch. Full gutter line plus the porch columns. The loop pulls people closer to the house than a normal walk does, so the porch detail actually gets seen here.
|
2" H | 2 | $51.98 |
| F |
Bare Arch, Dressed
Build it
The outside curve. Nearly bare, which is unusual for this build and is the whole point of it here. The theme is a set of tracks and the arch is the place whatever made them came through, so it wants to read as a gap rather than as a decoration: greenery low on both legs, nothing on the crown, and the tracks running under it and out the far side. Dress this one heavily and you have built a gateway, and a gateway is something a person installed rather than something an animal passed through. Put it partway along the line of tracks, not at the start of it. This one works just as well mirrored to the other side of the walk, so if a tree, a slope or the way you come and go says the far side is better, swap it and swap its partner with it. What matters is that it is beside the path and not standing in it.
|
7' 4" H | 1 | $31 |
2 things need an outlet, about 2 amps all together. That all fits on one 15 amp circuit, you are fine. Outdoor GFCI outlets only, and leave a drip loop in the cord at every plug so rain runs off instead of in.
You will also need
The cord is the part everybody forgets, and stores run out of them at the peak of every season. Outdoor rated only, and plugged into a GFCI outlet.
- 1× 25 ft Outdoor Extension Cord, 16 gauge (opens in a new tab) 2 plug-in pieces across 1 spot $16.98
- 1× Outdoor Timer with Photocell (opens in a new tab) Switches the whole display on and off on its own $14.98
About $31.96 of hardware, on top of the $222.34 of decorations. Buy it once and it comes back out every year.