Ideas for Halloween Lights

In a way, seeing lights go up for Halloween, Easter and all the other holidays makes me a little sad. It seemed a bit more magical to only see that fairyland look around the Christmas holiday. On the other hand, with all of the hardships people are facing and all the gloomy news we hear whenever we turn on the t.v. or pick up the paper, maybe we need to see a bit of holiday cheer more often.

So, if you can't wait until Christmas to see your house covered in twinkling lights, I say go for it. Add some Halloween lights to your roof line or drape them in a leafless tree. Spell out a "Happy Halloween" greeting on your roof.

There are a lot of ways to add some twinkly fun to your home's Halloween decor. The easiest is to simply buy a lighted Halloween wreath for the front door. The hardest (and most costly) is to outline your entire home in black or orange lights.

Several people I know have opted to buy lighted decorations for their yard instead. A creepy spider or a spooky light on a pole will make a bigger statement than a wreath, but won't be as hard to set up as a house outline.

My decision? I picked up a string of Halloween lights last year when I was shopping the 90% off after holiday clearance sales at Target. I haven't quite decided what to do with them yet, though. Maybe a small "swag" of lights over the door? Or decorating and lighting one bush?

When money is tight or you just don't want to crawl around on your roof more than once a year to set up lights, using Christmas lights for Halloween is a smart idea. While not all lights will work, clear twinkling lights or purple lights will look fine for both holidays.

The key to using the same set of lights for all of your outdoor holiday decorating schemes is to accessorize with items that are meant for only that holiday. For example, jack-o-lanterns, scare crows, bales of hay and a big, spooky "graveyard" in the front yard will make those clear lights look a bit eerie. Lighted reindeer, candles glowing in the windows and a manger scene in the yard will make the same lights look very cheery.

I always feel a little nervous when I see a pumpkin with a normal candle burning in it. If a trick or treater bumps into the pumpkin and knocks it over, you could end up with a very tragic situation. My solution is to use battery operated Christmas candles in pumpkins that are in a protected area, such as on my porch. This lets me get that spooky, flickering effect without risking a fire.

Of course, you can also buy Halloween products to light up your Jack O' Lantern, but I had candles for the windows already and didn't think it was very thrifty to buy artificial, pre-lit pumpkins and leave the Christmas candles sitting in storage!