Do it yourself Free
stays under $250
$147.63 $102.37 to spare
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 |
Plywood Bigfoot
Build it
The star. As far back as the yard allows, half behind a shrub or the corner of the house, turned about 20 degrees off the street. Put the spotlight on the ground behind or beside it and never in front: lit from the front it is painted plywood, lit from behind it is a shape you are not sure about.
|
6' 4" H | 1 | $57 |
| B |
Bigfoot Crossing Sign, etched steel (opens in a new tab)
Amazon
The stoop side. One sign, at the front edge of the lawn on the side people approach from, facing the road like real signage. It stands about knee high, so it has to be close enough to the sidewalk to read. Set back on the grass it is just a shape.
|
2' 5" H | 1 | $39.95 |
| C |
Solar Path Light Stakes, 10 pack (opens in a new tab)
Amazon
10 pieces
Fence and path lights. Along the top of the front fence and up the short path. The fence line is the longest straight run you own. Use it.
|
1' 3" H | 1 | $24.69 |
| D |
Orange Incandescent Mini Lights, 300 count (opens in a new tab)
Amazon
300 pieces
Doorway and facade. Frame the door and windows rather than chasing a roofline you cannot safely reach. On a narrow facade, outlining the openings does more than a gutter run would anyway.
|
2" H | 1 | $25.99 |
the plug situation
1 thing needs an outlet, about 1.1 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 $147.63 of decorations. Buy it once and it comes back out every year.
Print this version (opens in a new tab)
build plan included
Image prompt for this exact list
Photorealistic evening photograph of a narrow two-story urban row house with a raised stoop house on a small urban postage stamp, 26 ft of street frontage with a 12 ft front setback, photographed from the public sidewalk immediately outside the front fence, close in, showing the small fenced yard and the stoop, camera height 5.5 ft.
The yard is decorated in a cryptid crossing theme. Roadside warning signs, glowing eyes in the shrubs and something large standing at the edge of the light. Less gore than most Halloween themes and quite a lot more unsettling, which makes it the one that works on a quiet street.
Decorations, in position:
1. The star: a tall flat matte black ape shaped figure standing at the back of a lawn mid stride, arms hanging long, lit from behind so only the outline shows, 6.3 ft tall. As far back as the yard allows, half behind a shrub or the corner of the house, turned about 20 degrees off the street. Put the spotlight on the ground behind or beside it and never in front: lit from the front it is painted plywood, lit from behind it is a shape you are not sure about.
2. The stoop side: two yellow diamond road signs on posts, each with a black creature silhouette on it, planted at the edge of the lawn, 2.4 ft tall. One sign, at the front edge of the lawn on the side people approach from, facing the road like real signage. It stands about knee high, so it has to be close enough to the sidewalk to read. Set back on the grass it is just a shape.
3. Fence and path lights: a line of short stake lights glowing softly along the edge of a walkway, no cords running between them, 1.3 ft tall. Along the top of the front fence and up the short path. The fence line is the longest straight run you own. Use it.
4. Doorway and facade: a dense run of small orange bulbs following a roofline, warm and slightly sickly rather than festive, 0.2 ft tall. Frame the door and windows rather than chasing a roofline you cannot safely reach. On a narrow facade, outlining the openings does more than a gutter run would anyway.
Shot at dusk with the sky still faintly blue, every lit decoration switched on and brighter than anything else in the frame, warm light spilling onto the lawn.
Palette: #3E4A38, #8A6A3A, #D6C24A, #1F241C.
Nothing floats; every piece sits on the ground at the stated distance. Scale reference: the front door is 80 inches tall.