Christmas decorations

The second time I went to the US I left here on Boxing Day. I was amazed at the huge number of people using lights to decorate outside of their homes. The guy who owns Popeyes lives near my aunt so we went for a look. Traffic cops are on duty all CHristmas to keep the traffic flowing due to the huge numbers of people going to what he has done. Everything is covered in lights. It's happening here now too. DIY centres are filled with rope light everything. Many people have lights hanging like icicles from their guttering right up to huge Santas. A house near me was voted secong best in N Ireland and charge £1/$1.50 a time to go in for a closer look. All money raised will go to charity. For the time being I'll stick to my small red cherry lights on a Birch tree and a small fibre optic fake tree.

meant to ask are you for the glitz or against it?

Depends on where it is....I have a nice lighted garland on my front porch railing and a spotlight on the house....but the County Park has an enormous display all through it with huge lighted decorations...you can drive through it and look at the lights if you donate a can of food to the needy. I keep mine much simpler...I can put it up ,or take it down in 20 minutes.

We have a big (4 foot across) grape vine wreath that Stan and I made with some old lights of the small variety wrapped around it that we hang on the front porch. I also have some clear lights that I have wrapped around the center porch columns, but didn't get that done this year. Indoors, there's an artificial tree that came with clear lights already attached (new this year) in front of the big windows in the livingroom and a little art. tree in the backroom by the back door. Lots of garlands of many kinds over windows - none lighted. that's it. We used to have a couple of guys in Clymer who decorated their barns and silos with lights. One of them put a tractor and trailer in the yard with lights on the wheels that did a lighting in rotation thing - it was really neat. They are both out of farming (one retired, the other just gave up), but it was great while they were doing it. Most of the displays anymore are just 'how many lights can we put up' and definitely lack class.

We keep ours simple, small tree with tiny lights, small boughs over the doorways inside the house. Outside we put a wreath on the door, one on the front gate and one at the end of the driveway near the road (sort of a Merry Christmas for those driving past). On the porch this year we put lights that twinkle but I think they are too busy and so we might find something else for that next year. I prefer the simple look. I would like to have a manger scene but it takes some time to put one together and we just haven't done it. We live about 400 ft from the road so nobody except visitors would see it if we did have one. To answer your question directly Mark, I do not like the effect of everything lighted and all the flashing lights. One of the most effective Christmas scenes I ever saw was 3 choir boys cut out of plywood and painted. They were set up about 10 feet from a wall and had a spotlight trained on them from an angle that made a shadow of all three on the wall. It won a prize from the local town.

We live next door to the Griswold's of Nat'l Lampoon fame. (Okay, not really, but almost.) Seriously, their Christmas lights go up before Halloween (and in fairness, they're already down), but when they're up, you can see their house from the highway (and it's a quarter- to half-mile away.) I wouldn't say it's downright tacky (there are no plastic Santas or inflatable snowmen), but I would say it's overkill.

So we don't look like direct descendents of E. Scrooge, we put up lights along the front gutter and string of rope lights along the roof peak :) (We put 'em up after T'giving, and take them down a few days after the holiday, weather permitting.)

my neighbors have lights up and on all yr round and lighted candles in every window(like 30)and a lighted wreath on the door.
The other neighbors do it also-ALL year round! I light the gaden lights! ;)

we have house here at christmas time that light up the country side-Im saving my pennys for flowers not to let you all know im celebrating christmas.
I dont decorate the outside of the house!

for what its worth (not much?), a person who leaves their Christmas lights up from year to year is a "nerkle"

My neighborhood GLOWS between Thanksgiving & New Years. I have lights on the front bushes and on the porch railing. Every house is different. Most neighbors have their roofs lined & many have lighted deer, snowman, Santa or angels out front or on the roof. One house has it ALL!

One house lights just their 15 foot tree--every branch, every twig. It's a perfect image in 3,000 tiny red lights. The wife was at a PTA meeting with me. She says it takes 4 hours to wind the tree & several extra extension cords plus extra circuit breakers.

Cars pass slowly thru the streets all weekend & some wekk nights. We're crazy and the whole city knows it...

Well, personally, I'm against it. For a few reasons..........

This message was edited Jan 9, 2004 10:03 PM

I have to admit, I'm a regular 'Gary Glitter' when it comes to Christmas decorations. Winters are pretty dark here, so the Christmas tree and lights help to brighten an otherwise gray time. We put them up mid-December and take them down shortly after the first of the year. We put cascading lights outside along our porch along with some garlands along the rail. We purchase a natural wreath from the booster club each year for the door.

I also have to admit that we put faux garland along our loft and stairway, then strung the small white lights in it. It works so well as a night light, we usually leave it up until the long days of summer. This year we never took it down... just pulled out the vacuum cleaner and gave it the once-over! I guess that makes us sort of 'nerkles'.

I love the warm glow of Christmas. Usually we have icicle lights outdoors on 2 levels (trilevel house). Candles in all the windows. Holly draped all over inside. Little lights here and there. Real tree in living room. Fake tree in family room -white lights, master bedroom tree -white lights, kitchen tree- multi lights, bathroom tree no lights and cat has its own lit candle on its placematin the bathroom. Plus 2 wreaths outdoors and tree in backyard with red bows for the dog. I love this time of year!

sorry, hit it twice

This message was edited Jan 11, 2004 7:05 PM

Lights Lights Lights...I love the lights. When I moved out of my parents' house, I would always come home for the holidays. You could see the lights on my folks' home for nearly a mile. My face would light up in a smile so bright it probably outshined those strings of little bulbs.

djm906, you've surely got me beat! I have fond memories of the Christmas trees lights, too, smiln. Do you remember those bubble lights? We had them on our tree when I was a child. I even remember my mother being so proud of her aluminum tree with the colorwheel spotlight! Good grief that was an ugly tree!

I hear those aluminum trees with the colored spotlights are really quite the find if one can come upon one. Supposed to be rather pricey too. I imagine they can only be found in flea markets and such. But they were rather neat!

Try ebay, they have everything!

I like lights on the house, but don't care much for yard ornaments. Personally, I don't think that an ostentatious display is in the true spirit of Christmas and not what Jesus wants to see us do, but I am told that it is delightful and magical for the children.

When I was a kid, we didn't have much money to spare with 8 growing kids to feed. Daddy would help one of my brothers at the our Lutheran School Boy Scout tree sale each night. On the final night a couple days before Christmas, he'd bring home a leftover tree & we'd decorate. (Put the dead side in the corner!) It was always very beautiful with big HOT bulbs. Every year he would buy one new box of ornaments on sale. Every year we'd break a few.
I have the 6 remaining bulbs from our family tree. Every year when we buy our big tree, the old ornaments get a place of honor at eye height. All my brothers, sisters, their kids & grandkids & Mom celebrate at my house. We all look for those beatup ornaments & smile at Christmases past.

That's a lovely story, Wanda. That's one of the traditions of Christmas I find most endearing... family ornaments. I have a few left, but lost most of my old favorites in the flood of 1986 here in Seward. I had many boxes stored in the basement of our unfinished house, and the basement filled with four feet of water. What I lost would have been of no value to anyone else, but I miss those ornaments that evoked such good memories for me. Your story brought all those good memories back.

Well, my old family bulbs don't match the beauty of my new painted ones, but the memories they bring are sweet.

My late husband always did the outside hedges (12' cherry hedges)and the huge Poinciana tree. We were only about half a mile from the helicopter landing pad at the Children's Hospital and it was a family joke that someday they would make a mistake because of the lights, and it wouldn't be Santa landing in that chopper! (LOL)
Pati