If it were a crime to be eating leftover Halloween candy in late November, I’d be in jail right now.
There’s something not quite right about stuffing your face with Reese’s Peanut Butter Pumpkins while stringing up Christmas lights.
Which is why I did the former rather than the latter today.
Apparently, I was the only one.
It seems all my neighbors were on the same page this weekend: “Let’s add some holiday twinkle to our homes while Michele polishes off her kid’s Halloween treats.”
Mission accomplished. On both fronts.
Listen, I’m all about decking the halls, but my family waits until the first weekend in December to put up lights and make merry with the rest of our indoor and outdoor Christmas decorations.
And believe it or not, we don’t just stand on each other’s shoulders and hurl a bunch of red, green and ice-blue lights on the bottom third of our Ash tree. We fall somewhere in between the sprinklers and the dousers.
According to the American Lighting Association, we aren’t alone. Most Americans favor “elegant and restrained” holiday light displays over “exuberantly bright” extravaganzas that cost a fortune to power.
If you are planning to put up lights this year, take your cue from the experts. Most recommend placing at least a few strings of light around the front door to make the entry more inviting to guests. Depending on your light collection, you could also add some easy-to-install landscape uplights to highlight trees and shrubs.
Another tip is to place canned lights behind your Christmas tree to accent the decorations and cast attractive shadows. Plug-in spotlights work well indoors, and they come in a variety of colors such as red, green, silver, black and white. The colored lights are excellent at creating soft silhouettes through Christmas tree branches.
Picture lights are another affordable resource to illuminate holiday decor. The convenient plug-ins are especially smart to use with flat wall embellishments like Christmas wreaths, holiday-themed quilts and seasonal artwork handcrafted by your children.
Finally, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, more than 100 million decorative lights are sold in the United States each year. To save money while you’re trying to impress the neighbors with your fancy, twinkling displays, look for energy-efficient LED lights that use 75 percent less power and last for years longer than incandescent light strings.
When do you start decking your halls for the holidays?
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