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 |
24 in. LED Blow Mold Snowman (opens in a new tab)
At Home
The star. Two feet tall, so he is a close-range piece even as the budget centrepiece: put him where the path brings people past him rather than out in the middle of the lawn. Warm white C7 bulbs inside, which is the right period glow and the reason not to stand him next to anything cool white. Two and a half pounds of hollow plastic β he will not stay upright on his own, so weight the base or stake him.
|
2' H | 1 | $39.99 |
| B |
Giant Peppermint Candy Stakes
Build it
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.
|
3' H | 1 | $22 |
| C |
11 in. Solar Flickering Lantern (opens in a new tab)
Amazon
2 pieces
Sidekick, right. Right of the door, mirroring the left. Keep it clear of where a car door swings open.
|
11" H | 1 | $39.99 |
| D |
Solar Path Light 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 | $24.69 |
| E |
Warm White Incandescent 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 | $51.98 |
3 things need an outlet, about 2.2 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) 3 plug-in pieces across 2 spots $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 $178.65 of decorations. Buy it once and it comes back out every year.