Christmas Yard Decoration Ideas
Some yards, when decorated for Christmas, look like the display area of the local department store while others look sparse and unfinished. For a fantastic looking yard at Christmas, choose a theme when decorating, and use your home's natural landscaping to enhance your decorations' beauty. Does this Spark an idea?
O Holy Night
Since you're decorating your own home, the traditional story of Jesus' birth is a perfectly acceptable decorating theme for your home. Don't just put out a creche, though; instead, look to the highest part of your home to mount a brilliant star. Put your manger in the center of your yard with figures arranged around it, and use the edges of your yard to bring in the shepherds and the wise men. Lit plastic figures are fine for this theme. Keep other lights to a minimum, except to highlight the central manger and the star, and you'll have a beautiful and tasteful display.
Santa Claus
A theme with much more flexibility is a Santa theme; it could be a workshop, the Christmas Eve visit or even a Santa at the mall scene. The most important thing to remember in this case is not to overdo it; small yards may only accommodate one or two large decorations without being overwhelmed.
In a Santa scene, use your home as the centerpiece. If your theme is the workshop, make your home a winter wonderland cottage by decorating with lights, gingerbread men and Nutcracker-style soldiers. Santa and the elves can work out front with a train or large toy figures.
If you're decorating Santa's visit, don't feel that you have to go for the unfortunate Santa-falling-from-the-roof; it's been overdone. Instead, show Santa climbing a ladder, stuck upside-down in the chimney, or preparing to ride off in his sleigh. Keep your house at the center, but make sure your lights are set up to direct the eye toward Santa to keep him from fading into the background.
Lights and Action
This is the perfect theme for the light-lover: lights by themselves, or lights using a control box to time their flash to music. Simple light displays that illuminate your home's windows and outline your roof or that decorate your outdoor trees and other landscape often make an elegant display that is more than adequate.
Christmas decorators who are bored with the ordinary light display and who have lots of time to invest can purchase a control box for a hundred dollars or so and design their own lights-and-music display. If you try this and are overwhelmed, you can still use the light setup as a very nice display, and even use a separate central controller--sans music--to get all your lights to chase, blink and flash in synchronicity.
Music and Songs Display
If you love the idea of incorporating music but don't feel up to the elaborate Christmas light display, you can still use music while keeping it simple by decorating around your favorite Christmas song. Unique and original displays centered around songs like "The Twelve Days of Christmas" or "Sleigh Ride" have the additional advantage of being religion-neutral if you live in a culturally-sensitive neighborhood. Alternately, you can incorporate a little drummer boy in your creche, mommy kissing Santa Claus in your Santa display or even use "Silent Night" in a simple music/lights show over your traditional baby Jesus panorama. Because Christmas songs tend to tell a complete story, decorations themed around your favorite carol are likely to be the favorite of the neighborhood.
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