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 |
Giant Peppermint Candy Stakes
Build it
The star. Out from the porch where the drive opens up. Buy the biggest version of whatever you choose. Everything here is seen from 100 ft away or more, and small pieces simply do not survive that distance.
|
3' H | 1 | $22 |
| B |
11 in. Solar Flickering Lantern (opens in a new tab)
Amazon
2 pieces
Sidekick, left. Left of the walk near the porch. Stake everything properly. Open country means there is no neighboring house breaking the wind for you.
|
11" H | 1 | $39.99 |
| C |
White Picket Fence Panel, 18 in. x 36 in. (opens in a new tab)
Home Depot
Sidekick, right. Right of the walk, matching the left, staked just as hard.
|
1' 6" H | 2 | $15.94 |
| D |
Solar Path Light Stakes, 10 pack (opens in a new tab)
Amazon
10 pieces
The last stretch of drive. Both sides of the driveway for the final 30 ft only, where it opens out by the house. Lighting the whole drive costs a fortune and turns your approach into a runway. Light the arrival instead.
|
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 and the porch. This is what people see from the road through the dark, so use warm bulbs with real output rather than fairy lights.
|
2" H | 2 | $51.98 |
| F |
Bare Arch, Dressed
Build it
The mailbox end. This is the workshop door, so it wants to look used rather than dressed. Garland down both legs, a working light over the crown rather than a decorative one, and then one thing that says the job is still going on: a length of ribbon trailing off it, a sack leaning against a leg, two or three parcels stacked underneath. The trick in this theme is that everything looks put down rather than arranged, and a perfectly finished arch undoes that everywhere else. Site it beside whatever the workshop piece is rather than out at the road. 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 $210.29 of decorations. Buy it once and it comes back out every year.