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 |
36 in. Lace Heart Panel (opens in a new tab)
Amazon
The star. Centered on the front door, 8 ft out. Without a porch to anchor to, this piece is the only thing telling people where the entrance is.
|
3' H | 1 | $49 |
| B |
18 in. Lighted Heart Stakes, 6 pack (opens in a new tab)
Amazon
6 pieces
Sidekick, left. Left of the door, 10 to 12 ft out from the centerpiece. Push these further apart than feels right. A wide facade eats the gap.
|
1' 6" H | 1 | $24.99 |
| C |
24 in. Lighted Heart Wreath (opens in a new tab)
Amazon
Sidekick, right. Right of the door, mirroring the left. Keep it clear of where a car door swings open.
|
2' H | 1 | $24.99 |
| D |
Pink Solar Path Stakes, 10 pack (opens in a new tab)
Amazon
10 pieces
Walk and bed edge lights. Along the short connector from the driveway to the door, then following the front bed. The walk is stubby here, so borrow the bed line to make the run long enough to matter.
|
1' 3" H | 1 | $23.39 |
| E |
Pink Mini Lights, 300 count (opens in a new tab)
Amazon
300 pieces
Roofline. The full run, gutter line and both gable rakes. This is the single biggest thing you can do to a wide flat house, and it is the one people skip because it means getting the ladder out.
|
2" H | 2 | $25.98 |
| F |
Bare Arch, Dressed
Build it
Past the driveway. Lace panels down both legs and nothing on the crown, then one warm light on the ground BEHIND it aimed back towards the road. This theme is light coming through a pattern, and the arch is the only thing in the yard that can hold a pattern up at eye level with air behind it: everything else is flat against something. Lit from the front you see fabric, lit from behind you see the cut. Weight the bottom hem of each panel with a rod or a line of washers, or the first breeze wraps it round the leg and it stays there.
|
7' 4" H | 1 | $31 |
4 things need an outlet, about 0.7 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.
- 2× 25 ft Outdoor Extension Cord, 16 gauge (opens in a new tab) 4 plug-in pieces across 3 spots $33.96
- 1× Outdoor Timer with Photocell (opens in a new tab) Switches the whole display on and off on its own $14.98
About $48.94 of hardware, on top of the $179.35 of decorations. Buy it once and it comes back out every year.