I decided I would put up my outdoor Christmas decorations. As much as I love Christmas, I have always been lacking in the outdoor decoration part. It's partly because those items are so expensive and also they are a pain to put up.
Last year, I bought a bunch of stuff half price after Christmas. This would be the first year we would have a wonderful outdoor light display!
The first thing I did was rake up all the leaves. I've never raked leaves at our house before. Paul and I prefer to use the deterioration method... You know, where you just wait for the leaves to deteriorate or get covered up with snow. But we were grown ups this year, and after I had them all raked, Paul helped me put them in trash cans.
Then we made a game plan for where we would put all of the lights. We almost drew a map of the yard but we were able to talk it out without getting too anal about it. Then we got to work.
The most time consuming item was the icicle lights. Somehow, we worked together and hung them up without fighting.
All in all, it took about 3 hours to rake the leaves, put up all the lights, and figure out which power surges went where so that not only could everything get plugged in, but we when it was time to turn everything on, we only had to plug in ONE cord. GO PAUL!!!!!
Around 6:00, it was dark enough to go out and turn everything on. We were surprised to see that the icicle lights actually were blinking! It was a little gaudy, but hey, when you have blow up decorations in your yard, I think gaudy is the theme!
The lights lining the front were solar powered and they didn't turn on right it away. It turns out we had to remove a little slip of paper out of each one and then they worked. To our surprise they were colored lights and they blinked!
I bet everyone wishes they had a little Jelly boy in their window!!!!
Do you put up outdoor lights?
What's the absolute earliest you would do it?
Be honest, would you be mad if your neighbors had lights up already?
We put up lights and when I say we I mean Rick! Everything gets lit up, including our tree on the evening of Thanksgiving (we put up our tree that day). I would not be mad if my neighbors put up lights this early because who am I to spoil their excitement?!? And also, I love running my neighborhood to see all the lights :) The lights are actually one of my favorite parts because they are so beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI love running and seeing lights too! :) I like your Thanksgiving tradition, that sounds really special. :) Take some pictures of your decorations this year and share!
DeleteNobody in our neighborhood has decorations up yet but I think it's totally okay! I know people have indoor decorations up. I really wanted to put mine up last week because I am hurting with the knee and kinda down but Clay insists on waiting until after Thanksgiving to do it! I love your decorations and the gaudier, the better, if you ask me. We bought some stuff last year half off as well but we just do the inside. All we do outside is the wreath and the flag.
ReplyDeleteI think after Thanksgiving is the general rule, so if you can wait 2 weeks maybe you will be in better spirits and excited to do it. I have been meaning to message you about your knee! I hope it's not too bad. I have had knee/ITB probs forever so I can certainly relate. :(
DeleteSince we don't do the whole shopping thing on black Friday, that's when we usually put our decorations up but I am certainly not opposed to doing it sooner! I always want to go simple with just a few lights because I know how cold it's going to be in January when we have to take it all down but my husband always insists that we put it "all" out..lol. Your outside decor looks great and I totally wouldn't mind if my neighbors put theirs up right now! When do you think you will decorate inside?
ReplyDeleteBlack Friday decorating is a great idea since you don't shop! I don't shop on Black Friday either. Too many crowds... I love to do most of my shopping on Amazon. :) Paul and I will go out maybe ONCE during the holiday season to shop but that is enough since it's so crazy out there. You just reminded me how cold it is going to be when we take our decorations down. Oh well, I guess we will leave them up until April. :) Haha! I have soooooooooooooo many inside decorations and it takes more than one day to do. I don't have any plans next weekend, so I will either do it then OR over Thanksgiving break.
DeleteYep, it's time to put up the lights. Well, we don't turn them on until the day after Thanksgiving, but you never know what the weather will be like later so we do it now. That's cool that you have a lot of decorations now! It looks great! We just do lights, but every year we vow to buy some "bigger things" when the clearance sales happen. But nope, we haven't done it yet!
ReplyDeleteThere are some cheap blow up stuff at wal mart right now if that's your thing. I know blow up things are gaudy so I get it if that's not your style. I don't know what my style is... a little bit of everything. I know my piano students are going to LOVE it this year, especially the kids that have their lessons after 5!
DeleteAwwwww Jelly in the window! The best year 'round decoration!
ReplyDeleteYour house looks great! I love the lawn decorations! Your penguin is literally so cute. Does he have a name? He looks like a Cecil :D
I can't wait to decorate for Christmas. Yesterday my mom came over to the house while we were working on it and she asked when we would be going shopping for regular decorations and I said probably not until January. By the time we move in we will go straight into Christmas decorating, so we won't decorate the house normally until after the new year! haha
Awwwwww lol we do not have names for the penguin and the fox! Yes, we added a fox. I will consult Paul and get back to you on that.
DeleteI am so excited for you and your new house. I wish we lived closer so I could help you decorate! :)
Now that you have a penguin and a fox you should name them Chrissy and Jelly!
DeleteI name everything I like after Cecil! You want me to pass you a blanket? I think you mean you want me to pass you a Cecil. You like my shoes? I think you mean you like my Cecils. :D
I'm going to go buy some lights today and start decorating. We need to give a little joy to the world a bit earlier this year, me thinks!
ReplyDeleteYes we do!
DeleteDuring my run yesterday, I saw a blow up Minion with a Santa hat. That was the only decoration I saw, but it made me smile.
ReplyDeleteAw :) We sure need a smile!
DeleteWe don't usually put up lights because Scrooge aka my husband doesn't want to do it. And if I put them up, I have to take them down. When the boys were younger I did it, but I'm over it.
ReplyDeleteI get it! Paul helped me put them up SO I am assuming he will help take them down... I have been obsessed with Christmas since before he knew me, so I just always tell him you KNEW this was how it was gonna be. :)
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