Christmas Lights!

Something that has always annoyed me about our outdoor Christmas lights is all the power cords, extension leads, double adaptors, power boards…you name it, there is stuff everywhere! Yes, I know we could use solar lights, and we do have some, but we just prefer not to.

Last Christmas, the Resident Handyman said he would arrange to have some more outdoor power points installed. In the garden!

When our Garden Arch was completed the boys got straight onto trench digging. There is a double power point on the house, so the trench was dug from there all the way to the arch. It didn’t take too long with my two strong men!

And we also had another special helper

The digging is something you can do yourself, but the electrical part you should have done by a professional. We have an electrician friend who oversaw this project. You don’t want to mess with electricity.

Cords were threaded through conduit, and hardwired into the mains. I’m not going to go into more detail, as that is the professional’s job. Appropriate warning tape was laid on top, in case anyone decides to dig around in the future.

Power points were installed on the arch, and another outlet was installed just at the bush you can see in the above photo, bottom right hand corner.

An adjustment will need to be made for next year, it’s unlikely to be done this year: my suggestion was to have a timer where it all meets at the house. Then everything can come on and off at the same time without too much hassle. At the moment we need timers on each power point 😦

But this addition to our garden has made it much easier to arrange our Christmas lights, so I am very happy it’s been done!

Now I will bore you with a large number of photos of our lights 😉 They still get adjusted regularly as we see something that could look better if it was tweaked slightly, but you get the idea. I’ve been sharing the process on Instagram (@saw.it.pinned.it.did.it.blog)

Creating the North Pole. I think it’s more like Jack’s beanstalk because it is so tall, but we work with what we have. Next year we will re-think…

Helper kitty checking the handiwork

These are my favourite reindeer, so majestic! (I have two) The lights stopped working so I have refitted them with solar lights.

Small reindeer line the path

Santa and his reindeer at the front fence

Little Christmas trees also line the path

A starburst is suspended from the old garden arch

My favourite – these blue lights on the trees. Following instructions/ideas found on Pinterest, of course!

A disco light is mounted on the corner of the house, and we love how the moving colours are thrown onto the ground and surroundings.

Each year our display is slightly different. We pick up new decorations in the post-Christmas sales, some lights stop working, or we try old decorations in new positions. We’ve had a nativity scene in the past, but last year it stopped working. I’ve kept the frame, so we are hoping to try attaching new lights to it for next year.

Each night we cross the road to enjoy our lights. We often meet other neighbours who have also come out to have a look. No other house in our street puts up many lights, but we are trying to encourage them to do so!

We also enjoy visiting other streets with light displays. We like to see others’ ideas, maybe something that will work in our garden, and we definitely appreciate the effort people have gone to 🙂

Linking up with:

Table and Hearth – Think and Make Thursday, To Simply Inspire – The Mommy Club, 21 Rosemary Lane – Share Your Style, Too Much Time on My Hands – The Handmade Hangout, Posed Perfection – Creative Ways, Crafty Wife – Wednesday Roundup, Lamberts Lately – Create it Thursday, Savvy Southern Style – Wow Us Wednesday, Domesblissity – Thriving on Thursdays, Wondermom Wannabe – This is How we Roll, The Life of Jennifer Dawn – A Little Bird Told Me, A Tray of Bliss – Five Star Frou Frou, Love Bakes Good Cakes – Freedom Fridays, The Pin Junkie, Life With Lorelei – Home Matters, Domestic Superhero – Pinworthy Projects, Oh My Heartsie Girl – Friday Features, 24 Cottonwood Lane – Best of the Weekend, The Interior Frugalista – DIY Sunday Showcase, Thoughts From Alice – Sundays at Home, The Dedicated House – Christmas Around the World, The Pinterested Parent – Sunday’s Best, Julie’s Lifestyle – Cooking and Crafting With J&J, My Pinterventures – Merry Monday, Claire Justine – Creative Mondays, Create With Joy – Inspire Me Monday, I Should be Mopping the Floor – Inspiration Monday, The Foley Fam – Sunday Funday, Pastels and Macarons – Creative Corner, Yesterday on Tuesday – Project Inspired, Lou Lou Girls, Merry About Town – Monday Funday, Kathe With an E – You’re Gonna Love it, Cozy Little House – Tweak it Tuesday, Tip Junkie – Tip Me Tuesday,