Battle of the Bulbs: Lawn Displays For the Holidays Get Bigger

We find the line between cheery and cheesy, as people spend more money decorating their homes for the season.
By: Sara Schaefer Munoz: The Wall Street Journal Online
The Christmas decoration business has been recovering after a few slow years; according to Mintel International Group, spending was up 5.2% from 2002 to 2004 and is projected to go up 6% this year. Once-ubiquitous icicle lights and inflatable Santas are falling out of favor, some decorators say, as retailers introduce higher-tech options. Among them: "holographic" snowmen (the surfaces glitter day and night, unlike yard sculptures dependent on bulbs), light-emitting diodes shaped like jewels and a device that projects images of snowflakes on walls.

It's not only retailers who are pushing homeowners to upgrade their outdoor displays, with more elaborate glowing snowmen and lamplit landing strips for Santa - neighborhood associations are also egging them on. From Island Lake, Ill., and Omaha, Neb., to Hilton Head, S.C., towns and homeowners are promoting house-decorating contests, adding features like hayride tours for kids and pumping up public displays. Encouraging the ornament-averse not to let down their neighbors, the community of Pecan Grove outside Houston has created a new award category: best cul-de-sac. One Chicago-area decorator says he's been so overwhelmed with requests from people determined to win "Best on the Block" that he's had to train his administrative staff in how to wrap a garage door so it looks like a gift package - and be sure the bow won't get snagged when the door goes up.


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A pair of white resin polar bears lit with improved fiber-optic technology sold out early from the Frontgate catalog ($560). The flashier Fiber Optic Snowman Family ($249) is still available. www.frontgate.com


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LED lights typically last much longer than incandescents, but at $29 for an 8-foot string, Smith & Hawken's LED Garnet and Jewel lights cost nearly 50% more than its non-LED Dragonfly lights ($29 for 11.5 feet). www.smithandhawken.com


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The EZ UP Light Show projector from Brookstone ($79.95) makes it look as if stars or snowflakes are falling on your house. But one designer warns that many moving lights can make people dizzy. www.brookstone.com

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