Rob Errera

Writer. Editor. Publisher. Musician. Autism Dad.

  • Home
  • Autism Dad
  • Books
  • Music
  • Book Reviews
  • Custom Guitars
  • Contact
  • Store

Holiday Home Decorating: Say No To Pros

December 13, 2012 by roberrera Leave a Comment

This column was published in December 2006, but my feelings haven’t changed —you gotta hang your own Christmas lights.

May your days be merry and bright!

May your days be merry and bright!

What is it about holiday home decorations that I find so appealing? Maybe it’s that for a month or so out of every year, a month when trees and foliage are at their most dull, a string of cheap lights can turn the ordinary into something shimmering and magical, the drab into the dazzling. Christmas lights remind us that the ordinary is extraordinary if viewed in the right light.

My attraction to holiday decorations is something that has grown subtly over the years. Invariably around this time of year I find myself seeking out homes that are colorfully decked out for the holidays. Sometimes I’ll even change my travel route so that I can pass through a neighborhood packed with nicely decorated homes. Weird? Maybe, but it gives me a vague sense of “holiday cheer,” so I do it anyway.

This habit of scoping out homes for the holidays stems from childhood, when my family would drive around, usually on the way home from church on Christmas Eve, and look at the holiday lights around town. I realized years later that the reason my Dad would take these extended drives was to give my Mom time to get home and put presents from Santa under the tree. It never occurred to me to ask why Santa stopped at our house early Christmas Eve, not Christmas morning. I just figured we were his first stop on the busy night ahead.

During these Christmas Eve drives we’d find that homes on the swanky end of town always had the best decorations. It made sense to my eight-year-old mind; a higher household income meant more money to spend on holiday decorations. This concept hasn’t changed much over the years. But what has changed are the materials and the effort.

Two Rules, One Cup

There are two cardinal rules to decorating your home for the holidays:

1) You have to do it yourself.

2) You’ve got to be creative.

Current holiday decorating trends ignore both of these rules.

Drive through any new development of McMansions, and you’ll see plenty of dazzling displays of holiday decorations. But most of these were put up by hired contractors; professional holiday home decorators who have carved themselves a nice cottage industry in recent years.

This breaks the two main rules of holiday home decorating. Where’s the personal touch, where’s the pride, in paying someone else to hang your Christmas lights for you? And what’s creative about tossing a “light net” over an evergreen tree?

Wrapping a string of lights around the bare upper branches of an oak or a maple tree, or decorating your mailbox with glowing icicles…now that’s creative!

Estate Homes, Stodgy Owners

Owners of modern “estate homes” don’t climb ladders to hang lights on gutters or position a plastic Santa and reindeer on the roof. The only time they (maybe) break a sweat is when they have to write a check to pay for it all.

That’s not cool. It’s cold.

So get out that ladder and extension cord and get busy. Don’t worry if your “artistic vision” doesn’t quite turn out like you planned—there’s really no wrong way to decorate your home for the holidays. Just let the spirit of the season move you, and you’ll be fine.

And try not to think about climbing back up on that roof in a few weeks—when it’s covered with snow and ice—in order to take everything down…

Happy holidays, everyone!

-30-

Originally published in Wayne TODAY, December 2006

Share the love!

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)

Filed Under: Family matters, Pop Culture & Social Trends Tagged With: do it yourself holiday decorating, professional holiday lighting sucks, the ordinary IS extraordinary

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  • Home
  • Autism Dad
  • Books
  • Music
  • Book Reviews
  • Custom Guitars
  • Contact
  • Store

New Thriller! The Mud Man!

Born of mud.

Made for murder.

New! Autism Dad 3: Life Skills and Life Lessons!

Get A Job, Son!

Rob Rants About…

age of apology amateur writing autism Autism Dad blogging book review Brian Keene C. L. Holmes College Conjure Wife debut novel digital ban digital literature digitize classics digitize Salinger education Edward Lee family fatherhood Fritz Leiber future of publishing horror horror fiction Jack Ketchum Joe Hill John FD Taff journalism love story Lucky McKee memoir musical fiction mythology near-death experience new book no Salinger ebooks now available Our Great Abbess revenge tale Salinger Estate satire self publishing sensual nightmares short stories Stephen King weird

“Spine-Tingling Tales of Musical Terror!”

New Release! Autism Dad 2!

Autism Dad 2—'Tween Edition: Continuing Adventures in Autism, Adolescence & Fatherhood 
Get it @ Amazon!
   kindle
Get it@ Barnes & Noble!  nook
Get it@ Smashwords!   smashwords
Get it @ Createspace! Autism Dad 2: Autism, Adolescence & Fatherhood by Rob Errera

“Bloodcurdling Historical Horror!”

Our Great Abbess by C.L. Holmes

Get it @ Amazon!   kindle
Get it@ Barnes & Noble!  nook
Get it@ Smashwords!   smashwords

Dig The Enzertones!

Like It! Click It!

Like It! Click It!

Follow Rob!

Tweets by @haikubob

RSS

  • RSS - Posts
  • RSS - Comments

“Informative, poignant and engaging!”

Autism Dad: Adventures in Raising An Autistic Son
Autism Dad: Adventures in Raising An Autistic Son, $9.95 trade paperback / $3.99 ebook.
@ Amazon! kindle

@ Barnes & Noble! nook

@ Smashwords! smashwords

@ Createspace! Autism Dad: Adventures in Raising An Autistic Son by Rob Errera

More great posts!

Watch Me Spin Awkwardly On YouTube!

Smash your printer! Win $30!

I’m Not Sam by Jack Ketchum and Lucky McKee

What if you awoke one morning to find your wife — your soulmate, the love of your life, the person you know better than anyone else — is no longer herself? Instead, she insists she’s a seven-year-old named Lily. This is the simple-yet-effective premise that drives I’m Not Sam by Jack Ketchum and Lucky McKee. […]

The Painted Darkness by Brian James Freeman

  A man in a remote locale is driven insane my personal demons, delves into strange artistry, and turns on his family. Oh, and he needs to keep an eye on a potentially explosive boiler too. No, it’s not Stephen King’s The Shining, though Brian James Freeman has a character-driven, flashback-obsessed style similar to King’s. […]

“This book rocked my world!”

Hangman's Jam, A Symphony of Terror by Rob Errera

Buy it at Amazon! Hangman's Jam: A Symphony of Terror by Rob Errera.

Buy it at Barnes and Noble! Hangman's Jam: A Symphony of Terror by Rob Errera.

Buy it at Smashwords! Hangman's Jam: A Symphony of Terror by Rob Errera.

Buy it at Createspace! Hangman's Jam: A Symphony of Terror by Rob Errera.

Copyright © 2023 · News Child Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in