The use of outdoor Christmas decorations helps fulfill one of the objectives of the Christmas season. By adorning the outside of your home, you are sharing a bit of your joy and exuberance with the rest of the neighborhood.

photo credit: Beaukiss Steve

Growing up in a small rural community, there was not a big opportunity for outdoor decorating. If folks had a decorating budget at all, their money was spent on indoor decorating. Christmas trains running around the Christmas tree were popular. Department 56 style Christmas villages appeared as soon as the Thanksgiving celebration had ended. Christmas wreaths, candles, and bows seemed to appear from nowhere.

However, this did not stop me from trying my hand at outdoor Christmas decorations. As a result of a contest for selling newspapers, I won a set of outdoor Christmas lights. These were the huge C-9  lights, but that was all right with me. They gave me an idea.

My first attempt at outdoor lighting was to create a star out of plywood. After cutting out the pattern, I drilled holes to hold the individual lights. With this first attempt, I did not use any preservatives so this star was not an everlasting star.

Once the star was completed and the lights were tested, I affixed the star to an unused chimney on our house with wire, plugged it into an extension cord and waited for nightfall.

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Are you looking for a way to expand upon both your indoor and outdoor Christmas decorations? Animated decorations can prove to be quite the eye catcher and when synchronized to music can be quite impressive as the above video demonstrates.

I suspect that for most folks, this full yard animation did not happen overnight. These kind of displays are really a project of love and passion, with homeowners carefully planning their next addition and tweaking their existing layouts. Read the rest of this entry »