Christmas Yard Decorations

Take the next step in Christmas Yard Decorations and add motion to the scene. Moving light shows that project Christmas-themed images can be anything from simple colored lights to complete video. You can light up an outdoor bush or project a scene onto the garage door. You can make the shadows dance under the eaves or twinkle the angel decoration on the top of the house.

Add real objects to the light display and flesh out the decorations.

The Nativity scene is a holiday favorite and still works well in many decorating schemes. Spruce it up a little by adding some spray-on snow if you don't live in a climate that provides the real thing. Add some realistic touches by putting down small clumps of straw inside and outside the manger.

Sadly, though, sometimes a person will get the idea to ruin the scene. So, you may want to invest in some security. Devices such as a buried-in-the-lawn wire alarm system can alert you to unwanted visitors in the night.

Mailboxes provide the perfect opportunity to exercise your creativity. You can go for traditional ribbons and bows or spruce it up with decorative red and gold-colored paints. Or, you can go a little more abstract and design a decorative wreath made from non-traditional materials. An icy-crystal look can be achieved by using white wire hangers and shiny translucent plastic.

Place a white or colored light in the center of the wreath and hang it from the mailbox. You can run the wire down the pole and along a thin extension cord to the lawn lights. Or, use a solar-powered light that stores up energy during the day and releases it at night.

If you have trees and/or bushes in the yard they give you plenty of objects to decorate in traditional or unusual ways. Strings of lights work fine. Faux-icicles are still a great favorite. But be creative and use some miniature figurines to make your design unique. Tiny figures from the Grinch Who Stole Christmas are an idea. Or, sprinkle the foliage with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs carrying out their characteristic actions.

Even the lawn itself can be a huge canvas. Light strings, solar lights in the shape of a wreath, some special glow-in-the-dark paint of the type that washes away after a few weeks.... The list of possibilities is bound only by your imagination.

Decorating the yard with a Christmas-themed scene is a tradition of the season. Some will choose a Nativity display. Others will prefer a snowman or Santa and his reindeer. Still others will want something modern, but that still evokes the spirit of the holiday, such as a tableaux of the Grinch and citizens of Whoville. But whatever your tastes in outdoor lawn decoration, there are some basics you'll want to follow.

Safety is the first and most obvious consideration.

If you use displays containing glass, ensure they're well protected from kids with bicycles, dogs and other rompers who can break something. Even plastic parts that chip off can easily cut a bare foot. If your display contains lights, ensure that you use extension cords that have enough capacity. An overheated wire, the result of using too narrow a gauge, is a fire hazard. Make sure they're placed and secured so that tripping is unlikely.

In most areas security will be a valid concern.

Sadly, it only takes one bad actor deciding it would be fun to damage your scene to ruin all your efforts. Security systems come in all types these days. One of the most efficient is the sort that uses a wire laid into the grass. Inexpensive and easy to install, they alert you when an intruder has crossed the line. Many have timers so you can shut them off at certain times of the day.

Accidental damage is even more likely, though.

Ensuring that your display lasts through many seasons is easy with just common sense precautions. Wind is common in most climates during the Christmas season. Supporting your scene doesn't take much more than a little thought and effort. Look around your display from all angles. Give it a nudge in every direction. Using a series of stakes and ropes, short and thin boards or rods, and other props you can make a sturdy, wind-resistant display.

Rain is another obvious potential problem. Most plastic displays present no problem. But scenes containing straw, cardboard or even wood can rot quickly. Mildew builds up fast on wet wood. Cardboard will become mush in a good downpour. Straw will create a home for insects even more rapidly if it gets moist.

You have several ways to solve that problem inexpensively. You can house your display in a tent designed to look like part of the scene. Or you can build it under an awning or roof overhang. Or you can just select materials that will weather well.

Give a little thought to how to erect and protect your outdoor Christmas decoration. Your efforts will be rewarded many times over. It will last through several seasons, decreasing the cost and effort of creating that scene that delights you and your neighbors.