Christmas Yard Decorations

Archive for the ‘Christmas Decorations’ Category

Most of these holiday safety tips are really just common sense, but it’s a good reminder to review these safety tips every year (just like you Mom always said: “It’s better to be safe than sorry…”)

1.  Always use a GFCI exterior outlet, or a GCFI adaptor.  This is particularly important when plugging in to an exterior outlet exposed to the weather, or one that is not under some kind of roof like a front porch or garage (i.e. an outlet off the side of the house).

2.  Avoid connecting multiple extension cords together that will be exposed to the elements.  If you must plug multiple cords together, make sure that it is a 12-guage cord and the connections are wrapped in plastic and tied off with rubber bands or string.  It is also a good rule of thumb for extension cords not to exceed 100 feet in length “off the house”.

3.  Make sure that your cord is UL rated, and has an intact ground pin (the “third prong” on the end of the cord).

4.  Never nail or staple extension cords to attach them to the house, etc.  Wire hooks are the way to go to hang string lights off a gutter, roofline, porch, etc.

5.  Don’t use any more extension cord than you need to (i.e. avoid using a 200 foot cord for a job where a 50-footer is all you need)

6.  Invest in a simple outdoor electrical timer for all your exterior lights and decorations…You don’t really want (or need) your exterior Christmas lights blazing away all night long anyway.   This will save you money on your December electrical bill, as well as give you peace of mind at bedtime.

7.  Never install your outdoor Christmas decorations in the rain or while standing on a soggy lawn or standing water, and always wear rubber-soled boots.

8.  Always have a helper when using a ladder to install installing any decorations on the house, gutter, front porch, dormers, roof line, large tree, etc.  Watch out for power lines connecting to the house,  and always use a fiberglass instead of an aluminum ladder when working outdoors.

9.  Be sure to take your yard display installation down as soon as possible after the holidays (Don’t wait for the snow to melt like my Dad does!)

My favorite part of the holiday season is getting the lights and Christmas yard decorations set up in the front yard, and every year I seem to be unpacking these boxes earlier than the year before.  It used to be that the day after Thanksgiving was the soonest you would see lights being hung around the neighborhood. Today, it seems as if  Christmas decorations are pushing Halloween costumes out of the way in the aisles of your local Mega-Stuff Mart.

If you are looking for some new outdoor Christmas decorations this year, you may be surprised at how may choices are out there to choose from — From LED and solar lighting, to wire-frame reindeer…and from life-size carolers, to an endless selection of Christmas inflatables, today you can find a huge variety of outdoor decorating ideas to fit every style, theme, and budget.

But before you start shopping for you new lawn decorations, take a moment to plan exactly how you want your front yard to look like when your in-laws pull in the driveway on Christmas Day.  Here are some tips you can use to make sure that your Christmas yard decorations will be the talk of the neighborhood this year.

First things first:  do you have access to electricity in your front yard?  If you do, great!  You’re off to a great start already!  If you don’t, you have a few options:

1. Select decorations that do not require electricity, such as large tree ornaments and an unlit nativity scene.  It’s a good idea to set these up under a streetlight, or else close to the house where they can be illuminated by and exterior light after dark.    Many homeowners combine these non electric Xmas decorations with the electrical ones to make their front yard stand out in the daytime as well as at night.
2. There are many new solar-powered Christmas lighting options available today as well…These come in handy to light up random trees and shrubs all over your yard.
3. If all else fails, you can do what my neighbor does to light a big evergreen tree in his back yard:  Run a couple hundred feet of extension cord out to your location (be sure to use 12-guage wire for this!)

If power is not an issue, then your outdoor holiday decorating options are almost limitless.  If this is your first outdoor Christmas display, start small by lighting up a few  trees in the front yard.  You’ll also get a lot of bag for your buck by installing net lights over bushes and shrubs close to the house.  Icicle lighting looks great hanging from a front porch, While wreaths and bows can really dress up a front door.

More choices await you: White lights?  Colored lights?  Traditional or contemporary?  Do you want to keep this Christmas display low-key, or will it be visible from outer space?  And there’s one more thing to consider…your spouse may want to have some input as well on what the front lawn looks like three months out of the year.

Here’s a final word on purchasing your new holiday decorations…You get what you pay for.  This is a safety issue as much as anything else: today many products are manufactured all over the world to different (and often poor) quality standards.  Sometimes they do not even come with a standard UL electrical rating.  Therefore, if you find an inflatable snowman being sold at an incredible price from a questionable vendor, you may have reason to be suspicious about the quality — and safety — of this particular snowman.

Enjoy your decorating, and be sure to get up your Christmas lights and your holiday display installed before the snow flies! And here’s wishing you a wonderful and safe Holiday Season, and a very prosperous New Year to all.

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Jay Boyer

ChristmasYardDecorations.us is dedicated to providing quality information on the subject of outdoor holiday decorations.  It is also our hope that we can help you get into the spirit of the holiday season.   Here you will find helpful reviews, useful information, tips, and much more. This site is in the format of a ‘weblog’ so that each time I post new information, it will come to the top of the front page. This means that you can check back here frequently to see new updates to the information found here.

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All the best,
Jay Boyer