Well, it’s 10 days, 15 hours and 23 minutes until Christmas! Have I bought any presents? No. Have I finished decorating? Almost! Yesterday since it was fairly nice out, I decorated the veranda!
So, with 10 days to go, I am finished decorating for the most part. The trees are up, banisters decorated and now the veranda is decked out for Christmas and ready for company!
I’ve had these patio lights for ages. I used two packs of them at the lake house on the covered veranda and I love how they look there! We wanted a similar look at this house but had to wait until the new siding was finished. Then I never got around to it. So yesterday with a ladder and staple gun in hand I tacked up the remaining two packs of lights. These are from Target and similar to the ones I put in my Mother’s Courtyard over the summer. (You can read about the Courtyard transformation on the blog.)
I like the fact that you can buy the small replacement bulbs and they screw right in.
Typical of most of my projects, it was trial and error putting up the lights. I decided to drape them across the opening of the Veranda. One strand wasn’t long enough to go around once and two strands weren’t enough to go completely around twice. So, I made sure the lights on the front of the Veranda looked the best since it is what you see from the yard and patio. I stapled a white extension cord down the side and added an extentsion cord along the bottom. Our builder was very stingy with outlets thus it is in an odd place. (And WHY are exterior extension cords orange?!)
We have a small table top propane heater on the table outside and this really helps knock off the chill. My husband and grown sons like to sit out there with a Scotch and cigar so it’s nice for them to have a warm, cheery spot to sit and visit. Of course we bring up another rocking chair! (I will man the fire inside while they do their Father/Son bonding.)
I added a Merry Christmas sign and a wreath from Pier 1. The Santa Claus is about 25 years old. He was a gift to the boys from their Nana when we lived in Colorado. Lacey is NOT a fan of Santa. She glances at him and runs past nervously like he’s going to chase her. Poor girl. And my sweet stature is wearing Lacey’s Santa hat.
I love how the lights look at night. They really light up the entire Veranda. (This was taken last night before Santa came out to join the fun.) The new lights will also make grilling easier for my husband. Now all we need are our handsome boys and presents! I’d better get busy. Thank heaven for online shopping and Amazon Prime!