Dec 6th- QotD- Do you have lights or decorations outside?

[Julie Billingsley]

We use to put up lights outdoors and a wreath on the door, but this year my DH decided we were scaling back so we don't have any decorations outdoors. I miss them already and will be begging my oldest son to put up the Christmas lights this weekend. I love looking at the lights and decorations that are in the neighborhood. There is a lot of variety out there for decoration these days. Some houses just have lights, some have blow-up yard decorations, some have a wooden nativity, some have giant wreathes, and some go all out with displays on their roof with a sleigh and Santa's boots sticking out of the chimney! It's all awesome to look at and enjoy

So, do you decorate outdoors for Christmas and what type of decorating do you do? And bonus points for showing off a picture too! (just kidding on the bonus point... but I would love to see!)

[NeverendingJen]

Yup, we have a wreath on the door and lights outside. The lights are new this year and I love it. I've got pics on my December daily pages and will post another tomorrow when I am on the computer

[littlekiwi]

since we are having christmas lunch outside we will be decorating with lights one of our trees probably in about another 10 days or so

[MandaT]

We just have lights & things that can be secured to fences & the house (ie: lighted candy canes mostly). We live out in the country, literally we have about 5 cars that drive by a day, in the country. We also get 60+MPH winds on a regular basis in the winter. We have lots of other 'fun' outside decorations, from when we lived in another part of the county & had more traffic, but it's not worth the trouble for the little bit of 'show' it would get.

Our wreaths are on the inside of the doors though.

[KyRainbow]

I usually put lights on my house and some silk poinsettia's in my front window box. This year though, it rained so much that I couldn't get up on the ladder to put lights on the house, so I put some on the shrubs in front of my porch, and added in a few in the window box along with the poinsettia's. You can't see the actual flowers very well, but here's a picture of the lights

[MamaBee]

yes... and every year my hubby grumbles as to why we do this...

It's part of our tradition on Thanksgiving to go outside for the lighting of the house (which really is just lights on part of the roof line and a couple of shrubs - not a huge display at all - that is part of the joke) and shoot off fireworks.

[mrshobbes]

Mark and I don't, but my parents used to. One of our traditions was to pile into the car and drive to an upscale village because the lights and decor were out of this world! I think there was an in-house competition or something because they were always amazing

Man, I feel like such a grinch because we don't even decorate at all, lol

[Jennilyn]

We have a new deck on the front of our house this year so I bought a string of lights to put around the top of it. That's the extent of our outdoor decorating. I have lights around the living room window inside.

[KateD]

We don't. Much like Amanda, we're in a part of the neighborhood where there isn't much traffic. Plus, our house is set back from the street and there are a lot of trees in the front yard, so not much is visible. I keep thinking that I should at least decorate the mailbox, but I never seem to get around to it. This year I did put a tree just inside the front window that can be seen from the street. Honestly, the last couple of years I haven't even decorated inside the house as well as I'd like.

[Gemma]

I don't, I love seeing other people's stuff outside but I don't bother doing it myself!

[emmasmommy]

i put some on the front porch railing and around our deck and we have a wreath on the front door. dh refuses to put up lights outside so i have to put them up. i'm afraid of heights so i won't get on a ladder to put lights around the roof and stuff LOL

[cardinalskate]

We've never put up lights before, though I bought some that I really loved about 5 years ago. Last weekend, my 3 y/o DD was looking out our back window at all the other houses in the subdivision (we live up high and can see tons and tons of houses). She sighed and said, "I wish we were the neighbors." We asked her why. She said that it was because they had beautiful Christmas lights. Well, before I know it, my DH is in the basement digging out those Christmas lights. He put up lights right then. Hmmm. Someone has daddy wrapped around her little finger, huh?

[Lyd]

This is one area where I'm a bit of a Grinch. Either that or I'm becoming my mother. I just can't be bothered with the outdoor stuff. I can barely stomach the indoor decorations. I'm glad it makes other people happy though.

[Megan Turnidge]

No, but only because I'm renting. If I owned a house, I would definitely be putting stuff up outside! Can't wait to have my own house!

[SweetMelissa]

No we are not allowed to hang up any decorations or put anything up outside. I hate this apartment complex. When we moved in my husband put up a small American flag outside our door (in its own stand - not drilled into the walls or anything the bottom of the stand is weighted) and we got fined $150 for having it in the front entry way.

Our neighbor last year put up Christmas lights and put up little Santa lights right in front of her house (not in anyone's way the kind you put in the ground) and was fined $125 and then an extra $5 per day they were up after a certain day.

[Sarah8914]

Yes! Okay, so we had company when we normally decorate and the following weekend it was wet and raining most of the day. So we only have lights on the roof right now (and not even all the way... lame I know). We actually have some reindeer and more lights we put out, but we haven't had a chance yet... and I think we might be getting a wood nativity that we'll put out (instead or in front of the reindeer). I'm excited!

[maryinaz]

Absolutely! We put up lights every year. My DS2 puts up along the roof line, then we have a lighted reindeer that moves with 3 little trees by it, a lighted arch on the sidewalk, and 2 more lighted trees as you walk up. This year I found 12" clear acrylic snowflakes at the dollar store and hung a few in the tree closest to the street. We also put green and red plant lights in our plant beds. DH does something a little different every year and usually not all of the decorations get put up. We used to have a cute penguin, but someone stole it.

Oh, and I have my Pinterest snowman wreath on the door, with a poinsettia next to it on a table.

[Amy Carey]

I normally have all this stuff done by Thanksgiving weekend but we moved Nov 18 this year and it's killing me. Seems to be taking forever to do anything. Last night I had to put up a tree for my friend's parents and when I got home my husband had put up lights on the bushes in the front yard. I could have wept I was so happy!! Tonight I'm gonna put my wreath on the door, and put the spotlight on it and call it DONE Pictures to follow, but I really can't tell you how happy that made me

[heathergw]

I put no... because the only thing we do on the outside is put a wreath on the front door.

[Stacey42]

no, our house isn't visible from the road and faces away from it in case, and we're rural, surrounded by farms with houses set so far back from the road they aren't really visible either. A few of the houses near the road do decorate but the rest of us don't

[pewtertm]

Well, I voted no because the hubster didn't get out and do the lights on Thanksgiving weekend. When he had 4 days off. And the weather was nice.

Now he's got short weekends and freezing cold temps, so I'm thinking he's going to try and get out of it for the second year in a row.

[SeattleSheri]

We don't typically decorate outside since our power sources are so inconvenient -- plus my husband doesn't like doing it, lol. I have gone overboard inside though!

[Kara]

Nope, my hubby is very conscious of our energy usage and sees it as wasteful, so no. And I don't feel strongly enough about it to do it myself, so we just enjoy our neighbors' lights.

[Chels85]

we have
lights hanging from the porch
snowman decor on the door
window clings
and decor on the mantle

[kscwgirl]

No. Because my husband is the grinch.

[Sasha]

Im so sad that many husbands are grinches...so is my dad but i dont listen lol...my husband and i put them up the weekend of thanksgiving..its become a tradition and i love it!

[Joana1n]

Our roof line is outlined in the large C9 lights (white this year, they've been multi-colored in years past) and we have a huge JOY outside with a simple nativity silhouette inside the O (Joseph, Mary, and baby Jesus). We threaten to become the Griswalds every year but so far it hasn't happened.

ETA: Oh, and we have a wreath on the front door.

[lovely1m]

I have no outside to decorate, but if I did, it probably wouldn't be decorated anyway. While I love it, I don't want to do it other than a wreath on the door.

[Sharon Kay]

Mine is not as decorated as I would like ... dh only draped lights on the bushes ... although he did put out the tree this year ... my 17yo started trying to restring my animated snowman but it's not done yet (he started it last year before Christmas...and then when it got past Christmas he stopped working on it) ...



Yay got the photo to work ... not fancy ... but better than nothing outside ... the pic was taken with my phone outside when it was dark ...

[LibbysMommy]

I put no....we really only decorate the front door...if we had a front porch on our house I think we totally would....next year we're gonna have to figure out a way to decorate outside because I know the girls would totally love it!!