Showing Off Christmas Spirit with Yard Decorations

Christmas time is near, or for some of you who are reading this, it's already here. And for others, maybe it's already passed, but either way, it'll be back every year! Which means all the decorations have to be dusted off and placed around where needed. But what about the yard? It's always nice to have the yard decorated this Season, whether it's to compete with the neighbors or show off to your children. Maybe you just want to spread that Christmas Spirit! Either way, there are several ways to decorate outside the house, and each one will fill your yard with joy.

1. Light up the outside. Trim the house with lights, this alone with add Christmas cheer to your home. Majority of the time, adding lights to the outside of your house or porch is the first step to yard decorating. The roof is optional, but string up some lights around the window panes. Border your roof, pillars, and you can even place the lights going from the roof down to the bottom, close to the ground. Do this on the corners and it will frame your home.

Another option is to have icicle lights that hang from your roof. You can also make your own icicle lights using normal strands. It would take a few more strands though, but if you already had them lying around anyway, then this will just put them to good use. Tack one strand to frame the house, then additional strands can be placed every so often to hang from the roof, going down. You can even make stripes along the front of your house this way.

2. Decorate the tree. Just like you do inside the house, let's decorate the ones outside. You probably don't want to put small ornaments though. Maybe just the lights. (Ornaments can get blown away, caught in the tree, or fall off and break. Might be harmful to any living creatures in the tree also, or a cat might think it's toys.) Stringing up lights on your trees will add extra shine at night. Just keep in mind when purchasing these strands, right on the box it says "Indoor" or "Outdoor" and you will want the outdoor lights. These are intended for outdoor use.

NOTE: -Ask a friend for help, or get the family involved.
-Careful when using a ladder, take all safety precautions.

3. Presents. Have empty boxes laying around? Extra wrapping paper that you don't plan to save for next year? Put these to good use and make some decorations out of them. You can wrap the empty boxes and place these underneath your decorated tree outside. Add some spare bows, maybe a few gift tags with your family members' names on them. If you think you will have a problem with the wind blowing them away, you can put stakes on the bottom of the boxes and stake them to the ground. This will keep them in place. Take caution if you have pets that might rip the paper open and take off with the boxes. This makes a very unique addition to your yard.

4. More presents. Don't have a tree? It's not needed. You can use the same presents idea and just have it line the outside of your house, right next to the wall. They can be all the same sized boxes and same wrapping paper, or you can have different sizes and different paper. Either way it is sure to look good. Just be sure it's not against any lights or electrical, because this could start a fire.

5. Reindeer. Snowing or not, placing reindeer around your yard in various places will make it seem like your home is their home. You can have them grazing the grass or checking out the scene. They would even go good with a life sized Santa in the middle of the yard, or perhaps a sleigh at the corner of your house. Children will pass your lawn and think, "Is that where Santa lives?"