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 |
North Pole Signpost
Build it
The star. Dead center on the front walk, 8 to 10 ft back from the porch steps. Pick something with actual sides to it, not a flat cutout. One of your two streets is going to be looking at the back of this.
|
7' H | 1 | $38 |
| B |
37.5 in. Lighted Nutcracker (opens in a new tab)
Amazon
Sidekick, left. One nutcracker at this tier, and place it like a sentry rather than like half of a missing pair: hard against one side of the door or the top of the steps, square on to the street, not floating out on the lawn where the empty side becomes obvious. A second one is the best fifty-six dollars you can add to this theme later, because symmetry is what it runs on.
|
3' 2" H | 1 | $53.19 |
| C |
White Picket Fence Panel, 18 in. x 36 in. (opens in a new tab)
Home Depot
Sidekick, right. Right of the walk, mirroring the left one. Same distance out, same height.
|
1' 6" H | 2 | $15.94 |
| D |
Solar Path Light Stakes, 10 pack (opens in a new tab)
Amazon
10 pieces
Path and perimeter lights. Both edges of the front walk, then keep the line going along the side yard. Do not stop at the corner of the house. This run is the thing that ties your two street faces together.
|
1' 3" H | 2 | $49.38 |
| E |
20 in. Flat Tree Yard Decoration (opens in a new tab)
Lowe's
The corner moment. Twenty inches, flat, and it is a corner marker rather than a centrepiece. Angle it toward the junction rather than square to the street so both approaches get the front of it, because the back of a flat tree is a sheet of painted board.
|
1' 8" H | 1 | $19.98 |
| F |
Warm White Incandescent Mini Lights, 300 count (opens in a new tab)
Amazon
300 pieces
Roofline and porch. One continuous run along both street-facing rooflines. Skipping the side roofline is the number one corner-lot regret.
|
2" H | 2 | $51.98 |
3 things need an outlet, about 2.1 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) 3 plug-in pieces across 2 spots $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 $228.47 of decorations. Buy it once and it comes back out every year.