Hard Times--Holiday Decorations
I never much got into holiday decor. I'm not a seasonal-decor gal, and holiday stuff always seemed sort of....tacky I guess. The first year I owned a house I was all excited to hang outdoor lights and put up an enormous Christmas tree. The tree dominated our living room for 6 weeks before I couldn't stand it anymore, and the holiday lights all fell down after the first ice storm. After that, I didn't bother with much beyond the tree.
I certainly didn't mess around much with outdoor lights. I had those nets that go over the bushes, and after only two years of service they died on me. I discovered it was because birds pecked at the red lights, thinking they were berries, and it shorted out the whole thing.
Now that my kid is four, she's old enough to go..."heyyyyy why do our neighbors have pretty lights and we don't??"
Gulp. Bad Mom moment. 5 years ago I would have solved the problem by pulling out my credit card and buying some stuff at Target. Then again, 5 years ago I didn't have a kid and didn't need to. Logic aside, I didn't have a whole lot of money to put towards this, but I suddenly shared her enthusiasm. I wanted pretty lights too. I bought a few strands at the Salvation Army, plus a light-up (twinkling!) J-O-Y sign that hangs in the window. Cost: $18
My mom used to have some lighted deer that she put in her yard. She had offered me one last year, so I asked for one this year. She had sold them at the garage sale in the summer. She gave me a Frosty the Snowman, however. I put him up, then I dug around to see if I had any spare lights. They were all burned out. I used my final strand to try to make a sparkleball. I ended up with 160 cracked plastic cups, a burned out string of bulbs, and two huge blisters on my hand.
I turned to Craigslist, that great online garage sale of stuff, haven for those who need stuff and don't have money to buy it with. I kept finding people who wanted to sell their Christmas decorations for the same amount (or more) than it cost to buy new. I found a few people selling lighted deer for only a few dollars, but they were all so far away it wasn't worth the drive.
Finally, I hit upon a listing for a lighted deer, 6 strings of lights, and a set of stakes to put in the ground to hold the lights. I called her right away, dispatched my husband to acquire them, and spent the next day lighting up our house and yard. Cost: $25
Now I was missing a wreath for the door. I don't like ordinary wreaths with berries and pine cones and stuff. I like unconventional wreaths. I really wanted one of those made of glass balls; but they were $25 at the Target. Not wanting to double my budget I dug around at my grandpa's house and found a box of vintage glass ornaments that were all missing their tops. You know that little wire thingie that sticks in them? So they were pretty much useless for ornaments, but perfect for a wreath. I asked my dad to cut out wreath shape for me. It took a couple of tries (the balls didn't stay on with hot glue, they started falling right off!) but I now have a beautiful (and huge) glass ball wreath on my door. Cost: $0
On my way to Grandpa's I noticed a house with a box from a lighted deer out for the trash. I figured it was probably just the empty box from their (obviously new) deer display. On the way home, I passed it again, and noticed the deer on the box didn't match the new deer. I passed by, thinking no way would someone be tossing a 48" animated deer. Finally I turned around just to check. It was exactly what was in the box. A 48" lighted, animated "grapevine" deer, all folded up from being put out last year. I proudly brought him home.
I figured that he either didn't light up or his motor was broken. I figured at the very least I'd have a large, still, unlit deer, which was still cool. Well, his motor was fine, but his lights were in fact burned out. Upon closer inspection I realized they were just ordinary strings of lights attached with little plastic clips. As luck would have it, my cousin, hearing about my lack of "pretty lights" gave me a box of lights she didn't need anymore because she got a prelit tree.
After putting the kid to bed, I sat down with my box of lights and a pair of longnose pliers. Clip by clip I followed the path of the old lights, removing them one at a time and putting in the new strand. It took me a couple of hours, but I now have a huge lighted and animated deer that cost me literally nothing. Cost: $0.
So now, our house just about rivals the Griswold house. And all it took was about $40, some ingenuity, a careful trashpicking eye, and a bunch of handiwork.
I think that's actually better than using the credit card.
I certainly didn't mess around much with outdoor lights. I had those nets that go over the bushes, and after only two years of service they died on me. I discovered it was because birds pecked at the red lights, thinking they were berries, and it shorted out the whole thing.
Now that my kid is four, she's old enough to go..."heyyyyy why do our neighbors have pretty lights and we don't??"
Gulp. Bad Mom moment. 5 years ago I would have solved the problem by pulling out my credit card and buying some stuff at Target. Then again, 5 years ago I didn't have a kid and didn't need to. Logic aside, I didn't have a whole lot of money to put towards this, but I suddenly shared her enthusiasm. I wanted pretty lights too. I bought a few strands at the Salvation Army, plus a light-up (twinkling!) J-O-Y sign that hangs in the window. Cost: $18
My mom used to have some lighted deer that she put in her yard. She had offered me one last year, so I asked for one this year. She had sold them at the garage sale in the summer. She gave me a Frosty the Snowman, however. I put him up, then I dug around to see if I had any spare lights. They were all burned out. I used my final strand to try to make a sparkleball. I ended up with 160 cracked plastic cups, a burned out string of bulbs, and two huge blisters on my hand.
I turned to Craigslist, that great online garage sale of stuff, haven for those who need stuff and don't have money to buy it with. I kept finding people who wanted to sell their Christmas decorations for the same amount (or more) than it cost to buy new. I found a few people selling lighted deer for only a few dollars, but they were all so far away it wasn't worth the drive.
Finally, I hit upon a listing for a lighted deer, 6 strings of lights, and a set of stakes to put in the ground to hold the lights. I called her right away, dispatched my husband to acquire them, and spent the next day lighting up our house and yard. Cost: $25
Now I was missing a wreath for the door. I don't like ordinary wreaths with berries and pine cones and stuff. I like unconventional wreaths. I really wanted one of those made of glass balls; but they were $25 at the Target. Not wanting to double my budget I dug around at my grandpa's house and found a box of vintage glass ornaments that were all missing their tops. You know that little wire thingie that sticks in them? So they were pretty much useless for ornaments, but perfect for a wreath. I asked my dad to cut out wreath shape for me. It took a couple of tries (the balls didn't stay on with hot glue, they started falling right off!) but I now have a beautiful (and huge) glass ball wreath on my door. Cost: $0
On my way to Grandpa's I noticed a house with a box from a lighted deer out for the trash. I figured it was probably just the empty box from their (obviously new) deer display. On the way home, I passed it again, and noticed the deer on the box didn't match the new deer. I passed by, thinking no way would someone be tossing a 48" animated deer. Finally I turned around just to check. It was exactly what was in the box. A 48" lighted, animated "grapevine" deer, all folded up from being put out last year. I proudly brought him home.
I figured that he either didn't light up or his motor was broken. I figured at the very least I'd have a large, still, unlit deer, which was still cool. Well, his motor was fine, but his lights were in fact burned out. Upon closer inspection I realized they were just ordinary strings of lights attached with little plastic clips. As luck would have it, my cousin, hearing about my lack of "pretty lights" gave me a box of lights she didn't need anymore because she got a prelit tree.
After putting the kid to bed, I sat down with my box of lights and a pair of longnose pliers. Clip by clip I followed the path of the old lights, removing them one at a time and putting in the new strand. It took me a couple of hours, but I now have a huge lighted and animated deer that cost me literally nothing. Cost: $0.
So now, our house just about rivals the Griswold house. And all it took was about $40, some ingenuity, a careful trashpicking eye, and a bunch of handiwork.
I think that's actually better than using the credit card.
posted by knittykat @ 8:00 AM
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