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 |
36 in. Giant Egg Stack (opens in a new tab)
Amazon
3 pieces
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' H | 1 | $49 |
| 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. The theme says eggs get hung off anything that will hold one, and this is the only thing in the yard that will. Hang them at wildly different drops, from two inches to two feet, so they sit at different heights: a row all at the same length reads as bunting. Plastic eggs weigh almost nothing so the twenty pound crown limit is not in play here, which makes this the one theme that can properly load the top. Keep the lowest egg above head height. Fishing line rather than ribbon, because ribbon goes limp and gray after one wet night and fishing line disappears, so the eggs look like they are floating. 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 $227.34 of decorations. Buy it once and it comes back out every year.