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 |
Plywood Tombstones
Build it
The star. Beside the stoop, not in front of it. Seven feet is a hard ceiling and the footprint is about the size of a bath mat, so this is one good piece rather than a scene.
|
2' H | 1 | $28 |
| B |
Lighted Graveyard Fence, 8 panels (opens in a new tab)
Amazon
8 pieces
The stoop side. This is 11 in. tall, so it is an edging rather than a barrier. Run it along the front of a bed to draw the boundary of the graveyard, and let the line of it curve. Lean a panel or two and leave a gap where something came through. It charges by cable rather than taking batteries, which is the good news and also the thing to remember: top it up in the afternoon on the 31st, because there is no swapping in fresh cells at eight o'clock.
|
11" H | 1 | $53.99 |
| C |
Green Solar Path 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 | $25.99 |
| 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 |
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 $133.97 of decorations. Buy it once and it comes back out every year.