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I honestly never realized so many people had such strong opinions about Christmas decorations.
The one I like is the neighbor who puts out a half-dozen different types of articifial Christmas trees, surrounds it with a fence and hangs a "Christmas tree lot" sign.
Things with a strong fake scent in an enclosed space. I have a friend who I swear is trying to poison us all with faux pine, cinnamon and vanilla when we walk into the house.
You know those "cinnamon pine cones" that some stores sell (generally out of a bin just outside the store)? Imagine those in a small room. With bows.
Man, I hate those!! They don't smell like cinnamon, they smell like cinnamon red hots, melted.... yukkk...
As for decoration? We don't because it would get stolen here, but we adore going out Christmas Eve and wandering the area gawking at lights, with a tin of homemade cookies, and coming home to a Christmas Eve dinner of something in the crockpot. Just me and hubby, so nothing elaborate....
We always hit this one cul de sac where everybody but one gets in on the wonderland...its wild!! The whole front yard is loaded with stuff, inflatables, lighter sculptures, handmade Disneyana. And music!!! You have to stop and walk to get the whole effect....
I don't like a bunch of stuff out on the lawn, mainly because it looks so awful during the day.
I am over the all white lights thing. This trend for "tastefulness" has run its course, I think. To me it's very uninteresting. I do not put lights outside, but I have switched from all white lights on the tree to colored ones. I like the over the top exuberance of the colored lights.
I had all white only tree forever. In June 2010, my mom died and I went a little crazy.
That year, out went the white lights and we bought all colored...but for some reason colored lights lack white ones...
So after a couple years of a darkly lit tree, I bought white lights again and use both. I have 600 mini lights on a tree that we only decorate the front off because we put it in a corner...
I honestly never realized so many people had such strong opinions about Christmas decorations.
The one I like is the neighbor who puts out a half-dozen different types of articifial Christmas trees, surrounds it with a fence and hangs a "Christmas tree lot" sign.
I honestly never realized so many people had such strong opinions about Christmas decorations.
The one I like is the neighbor who puts out a half-dozen different types of articifial Christmas trees, surrounds it with a fence and hangs a "Christmas tree lot" sign.
Really. My mother used to complain about a house two blocks away from hers. She didn't have to look at it, so I'm not sure why. It wasn't over the top, either. The house, windows, door, porch were outlined in white lights and there was a tree in the yard with colored lights. That's it. I thought it looked very nice. She always said there were too many lights. It wasn't the Griswold house. Too many lights. :::sigh:::
I've never seen a house trimmed in bright lime green with an inflatable Grinch in the yard. I'm sure someone must have done that, but not in my little corner of the world.
I had all white only tree forever. In June 2010, my mom died and I went a little crazy.
That year, out went the white lights and we bought all colored...but for some reason colored lights lack white ones...
So after a couple years of a darkly lit tree, I bought white lights again and use both. I have 600 mini lights on a tree that we only decorate the front off because we put it in a corner...
Oh my gosh, about 12 years or so ago, I bought strings of programmable colored lights. There were about 10 choices, functions. There was slow and fast fade and glow, color by color, different speeds of blink. I loved those things. The Christmas Song got slow fade, and Santa Clause is Coming to Town required a fast blink.
I don't take this thread to be grinchy. It is a discussion about people's personal tastes. It is a different matter to say other people shouldn't do something because you don't like it--I don't think that is what's being said.
The only time I don't want other people to do something is if it is disturbing others. Otherwise I have no reason to care. I am amused by walking the neighborhood and seeing what people come up with.
I hate it when someone has one or a couple of small deciduous trees in their yard (not an Evergreen) and they just string lights haphazardly over the branches like they threw them on.
Just to hang some lights? I'd rather see none than a mess like that.
Oh, and blinking lights left on all night would drive me crazy!
I don't take this thread to be grinchy. It is a discussion about people's personal tastes. It is a different matter to say other people shouldn't do something because you don't like it--I don't think that is what's being said.
The only time I don't want other people to do something is if it is disturbing others. Otherwise I have no reason to care. I am amused by walking the neighborhood and seeing what people come up with.
I agree, these are just more personal opinions of our own decor. I love driving around looking at lights but for my house, I prefer what I have. I'm also glad that just about everyone in our neighborhood decorates, even a little. It is just festive!
I did see a new one yesterday that I am glad is not across from my house--a very rapid blinking light strand, looked more like a police car flashing lights (which is what I thought it was from a few blocks away).
We do have some neighbors that just throw lights up in their trees, literally. It certainly is unique.
I think for me it would be the "flow". If you have those bluish white LED bulbs then use those, don't randomly string your house in one strand of those then cover the rest in soft white. You can absolutely mix and match but if your doing say icicle lights, keep them the same. Seeing different shades just looks cheap and careless.
That also goes for lack of lights, not those who don't celebrate but the ones who put one strand around the rail and call it a day. I get some are elderly but I'm not talking about those people.
Finally are the ones who thing one string is enough to cover a 6' shrub. I put 300 lights on each mini spruce in front of my house. They are about 3' tall and get two strands of 150 each. I enjoy the "full" look of lights and have even gone about adding strands to pre-lit wreaths to make them pop more.
Creativity gets points as well, people who cut/paint/create their own scenes or decorations are always a plus.
My latest addition is the homemade flagpole tree.
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