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 star. Two thirds of the way up the walk, not down by the sidewalk and not parked against the porch. Go bigger than you would on a normal lot. At 55 ft back, a 6 ft piece disappears.
|
3' 6" H | 1 | $44 |
| B |
18 in. Giant Easter Eggs, 6 pack (opens in a new tab)
Amazon
6 pieces
Sidekick, left. Left of the walk, a few feet behind the centerpiece so the two do not line up flat when you look up the yard.
|
1' 6" H | 1 | $26.99 |
| C |
Pastel Bunting, 30 ft (opens in a new tab)
Amazon
24 pieces
Sidekick, right. Right of the walk, matching the left. Keep both off the driveway edge.
|
10" H | 1 | $18.99 |
| D |
Solar Path Light Stakes, 10 pack (opens in a new tab)
Amazon
10 pieces
The approach lights. Both sides of the walk for the last 36 ft up to the door. You do not need to light the whole 55 ft. Starting the run partway up pulls the eye toward the house instead of stopping it at the sidewalk.
|
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. Gutter line and porch. Use the biggest bulb you are willing to buy. At this distance small twinkle lights turn into a faint smudge.
|
2" H | 1 | $25.99 |
| F |
Bare Arch, Dressed
Build it
The halfway moment. 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.
|
7' 4" H | 1 | $31 |
1 thing needs an outlet, about 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) 1 plug-in piece 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 $196.35 of decorations. Buy it once and it comes back out every year.