Outdoor Holiday Decorating, the Environmentally Friendly Way

Sure it's loads of fun to take the kids for a drive through the neighborhoods to look at the lights. However, somewhere along the way, we forgot that sometimes simpler is truly better and more elegant. The evidence is easy to find: houses with Santa's on the roof, icicle lights dripping from ever edge. Each shrub wound up or netted with arrays of bulbs. Oversized plastic candy canes lining walkways closer together than the railings on the porch. And the sound of the motors as the huge inflatable figures cycle on and off to keep them inflated to 5 or 6 or greater heights.

And then you see the other houses. A single candle in the windows. Perhaps you can see their tree twinkling through the glass as you drive by. Maybe a small string of lights around a few bushes.

Certainly, the latter is far more pleasing to the eye as well as the pocketbook (when that electric bill comes in). But by daylight, simple can be made pleasing in other ways as well.

In our grandparent's days, plastic wasn't so widely available and you didn't waste the electricity. Nor were video games or TV shows more important than family time.

This year, try something new. (Even if you do some of these while watching TV or the video games):

1) Decades ago garlands were made by stringing popped popcorn on thread. Some even added cranberries strung in between for a splash of color. Certainly the birds will appreciate your effort and you won't have to store it either. Who doesn't like snacking while stringing? Toss the garland on your shrubs outside (yum-yum) or use it indoors and string it outdoors for the birds after Christmas.

2) For more colorful popcorn garlands, use food dyes. Mix them with water in a spray bottle and spritz away. Don't apply too much at once or you'll have soggy popcorn.

3) Now how about that front door wreath? Got trees? Pick some of the slender branches and twine them together bending as you go to form a rough circle. Wrap some wide ribbon around these and attach (glue or use thread to tie them in place) pinecones, leaves, perhaps winding a smaller garland of popcorn. After the holidays, you can either store your creation or discard it and make a fresh one next year.

So you may not win the best decorated award (then again you might) but at least you won't have any airplanes thinking your house is a landing strip either. The birds will thank you for the popcorn and your wallet will thank you by having more money in it. And you might even spend some quality time with your loved ones while you're making them. Some memories are worth the time it takes to create.