🎄 The Decorations 🎄**
Well… I guess I’ve officially committed to posting every day now if I want to finish this ambitious little series in time. Turns out I may have bitten off a bit more than I can chew. But onward we go.
Ah yes—Christmas decorations. There are two categories in our house, and both completely take over this time of year: outside and inside. Let’s start with the great outdoors.
Outside Decorations
We’ve dwindled a bit over the last couple of years, mostly because a lot of what’s sold now is expensive junk with a very short life expectancy. That said, we do still have one working inflatable Santa. Unfortunately, Mr. Narwhal only made it a couple of weeks this season before his blower gave out. Darth Santa emerged from the shed with a giant rip. Buddy the Elf… well, Buddy just never could stand up straight.
We’ve still got a Christmas Minion projected on the fence going strong, though. Our sneaky Santa-in-the-window lasted about two seasons. Last year was also literally the last year for our nativity—the same sun-dried plastic figures I grew up with. They finally disintegrated while being hauled back to the shed, which felt oddly symbolic.
We also had some nice-ish white polar bears and snowmen the last couple of years, but by the end of last season they were full of mold and mildew, courtesy of a lovely South Louisiana winter. Some years we string up exterior lights, but none this year—most of those strands have also seen better days.
At some point this summer, I really need to sit down and come up with a better exterior illumination plan. I’ll probably be at Lowe’s on December 26th seeing what I can grab on clearance. Ideally, I’d love to go all-in on wooden figures—maybe even pallet-made stuff. Am I that artistic? Or will it all be undone by the floodlights I’d need to buy? Time will tell.
Inside Decorations
The interior stuff, thankfully, is in much better shape. We’ve got a Christmas village, several unique nativity sets, and a Christmas Cookie Monster who makes an appearance every year.
Does the wreath count as inside or outside? Either way, it’s hanging on the door—behind the storm door—and I’m pretty sure Molly handmade it. The curio cabinet fills up with little Christmas doohickies and knickknacks as our regular décor quietly disappears for a few weeks.
And yes… the elf definitely counts.
So what’s your take on Christmas decorations? A must-have, or just stressful extras? It’s a lot of work for something that’s only out a few weeks—and sometimes it feels like once you finally get everything just right, it’s already time to take it all down.
Still, I think decorations add to the charm of the season. They break up the regularness of the year. Something special this way comes.
We love driving around looking at everyone else’s lights, too. I’ve always felt that a street where everyone does a little is far better than a “dead” street with just one super-champion at the end.
You don’t need an auxiliary power plant to make it feel like Christmas. Even a small strand of lights—assuming the Grinch doesn’t steal it—can completely change the outlook for someone driving by.
Ramblings from That Guy 