Outdoor Lighted Christmas Decorations: Trains, Deer and Lamp Posts
The first year you decorate the front of the house, you learn two things fast.
First, a yard swallows decorations. What looked substantial in a photo turns out to be knee-high and lost against a lawn. Second, the extension cord decision you made in twenty seconds in November is the decision you will be cursing in December, standing in the wet, tracing a run of cable back to a socket.
This is a guide to getting both of those right the first time. It covers lighted wire frame figures, which are the trains, deer and similar pieces you see outlined in light, and lighted lamp posts, which are the most underrated thing you can put by a front door.
What a Wire Frame Decoration Actually Is
A wire frame decoration is a welded metal skeleton in the shape of the figure, wrapped in colored mesh fabric and strung with lights along the frame. It holds its shape permanently, it reads as a clean outline of light from the street, and it stays in place when properly anchored.
That last part is the whole argument against the alternative.
Wire frame versus inflatables
An inflatable holds its shape while its fan is running, which is what lets it be so large for the money. A wire frame works differently. It has no motor and nothing that has to stay powered for it to keep its form, so it holds the same shape at 3am as it did at 6pm and looks like a decoration whether it is switched on or not. Which one suits you comes down to whether you want maximum size or a piece that keeps its shape on its own.
Wire frame versus blow molds
Blow molds are the solid plastic figures lit from inside. They are tough and they have real nostalgia value, but they are bulky to store and the light is a diffuse glow rather than a drawn line. Wire frame stores flatter and gives you a crisper outline at distance.
The trade is honest: a wire frame figure reads as an outline, not as a solid object. From the street that is exactly what you want. Standing next to it, it is clearly a frame.
Scale Is the Mistake Almost Everyone Makes
Choose the size based on the distance from which the piece will be viewed, not on how it looks in your hand.
A yard piece is competing with a whole house behind it. Something 18 inches tall on an open lawn disappears. The same piece on a porch step, next to a door, framed by walls, has plenty of presence.
The Lighted Outdoor Wire Frame Train with Presents is 71 inches long. That is close to six feet of train, which is why it works as the main event on a lawn: it is long enough to hold its own from the sidewalk. It carries 180 warm white LEDs on a UL-listed adapter, and the mesh runs gold, red, green and blue, so it reads as colored in daylight and as a lit outline at night.
Deer work differently, because they come in sets and the set does the work. The Set of 3 Lighted Outdoor Wire Frame Deer runs 90 warm white LEDs across three pieces at 30, 24 and 18 inches tall. Three graduated figures grouped on a lawn read as a scene. One deer on its own reads as an object somebody left out.
If you want more light out of the same idea, the Set of 3 Deer Family with 210 Warm White LED Lights is the brighter version and is rated for indoor use as well, which makes it a reasonable choice for a covered porch or a large entryway.
Lamp Posts: The Highest-Impact Piece for the Smallest Effort
A lighted lamp post does something no lawn figure does. It puts light at eye level, right where people walk in.
Most outdoor Christmas decorating happens at ground level or roofline, which leaves a gap exactly where a visitor's eye is. A lamp post fills it. It also marks the path, which is genuinely useful on a dark evening and not just decorative.
They come in two broad sizes and the choice is simple.
Full height, around 7 feet
This is a landscape feature. It stands beside a path or a driveway and holds its own against the house. The 7 ft Lamp Post with Decorated Garland carries 50 warm white LEDs and comes dressed with red berries, pine cones and a fabric bow, so it arrives as a finished piece rather than something you have to decorate. The 84-inch Outdoor Lighted Lamp Post is the brighter one at 150 warm white LEDs on an outdoor UL adapter, which is the one to pick if it is going somewhere genuinely dark.
Around 4 feet
Porch scale. It sits by a door, on steps, or flanking an entry in a pair. The 4 ft Pre-Lit Christmas Lamp Post uses 35 clear incandescent lights and is dressed with white berries, pine cones and a bow. There is also a set of two 4 ft lamp posts with decorative pots, which is the better buy if you are flanking a door, because a matched pair looks intentional in a way a single post does not.
Buy the pair if you have two sides. It is the single easiest upgrade in outdoor decorating.
Power: Plan It Before You Buy
Work this out before you buy, not after.
Plan how each piece will be powered
Every separate piece needs to reach power, and most homes have fewer outdoor sockets than they end up having decorations. Work out how each piece will be supplied before you buy, and follow the instructions supplied with the products you choose.
Use outdoor-rated products throughout
Anything that will sit outside should be rated for outdoor use, cords and connectors included, and used within the ratings printed on it. These pieces ship with UL-listed adapters. Follow the instructions supplied with each product, and if you are unsure what your outdoor sockets and circuits will support, ask a qualified electrician.
Check the ratings before you combine pieces
180 LEDs on a train, 150 on a large lamp post, 90 across three deer. LED pieces generally draw relatively little power individually, but that does not tell you what any particular circuit will take. Check the load ratings on the products and cords you are using, and the rating of the circuit they are plugged into, before you combine several pieces.
Put it all on a timer
An outdoor mechanical timer at the socket costs very little, saves you going out in the cold twice a day, and means the display is actually on during the hours people drive past. Set it for dusk to about 11pm.
Keep connections dry
A connection sitting in water is the most common way these displays fail mid-season. Keep connections clear of standing water and protected from the weather, in line with the instructions supplied with your cords and adapters.
Anchoring and Surviving the First Real Wind
Wire frame pieces are light. That is good for carrying them and bad in a gale.
Ground stakes come with the piece and they are not optional. Use every one of them, and follow the anchoring instructions supplied with the product for how they should be fitted.
If you are putting a piece on a hard surface, a porch, a deck, a paved path, stakes are no use. You will need another way to keep the piece stable, so check the product instructions for what the manufacturer recommends on hard surfaces.
Set them up before the ground freezes. This is the practical reason to decorate outside in late November rather than mid December in a cold climate. Once the ground is hard you are not getting a stake into it.
Storage and Care
A wire frame has no motor and no fabric to keep inflated, and storing it properly can help extend its life. Here is what that takes.
Store it dry
One of the quickest ways to shorten a wire frame's life is to put it away damp. Rust starts at the welds, and the mesh holds water longer than you would think. Bring it in, leave it somewhere ventilated for a day or two, then box it.
Coil the cable separately
Do not wrap the lead tightly around the frame. That is how you break a wire at the strain point where it enters the housing, which is the failure that kills the lights while the frame is still perfect.
Keep the stakes with the piece
Tape them inside the box. Losing the stakes in a garage is how a good decoration becomes difficult to secure properly.
Label the box with what is in it
That can make the difference between a twenty-minute setup and an hour of opening boxes.
Building a Display That Works
You do not need many pieces. You need them in the right places.
One anchor piece
The largest thing you own, placed where it is seen from the street. On an open lawn that is the train. It is long, low and reads clearly at distance.
A grouping
Three deer, graduated, off to one side. A group creates a scene. Scattered single figures create clutter.
Light at the entry
A lamp post, or a pair. It is also the piece that photographs well and that visitors actually stand next to.
Height somewhere
f the yard is otherwise flat, something upright breaks it up. A 6 ft outdoor willow tree at 360 warm white multi-function LEDs does this, or an outdoor-rated pre-lit tree by the door.
Stop there
A yard with four considered pieces looks better than one with nine competing ones. The empty space between the pieces is what lets each one read.
If your decorating runs indoors as well, pre-lit outdoor christmas wreaths covers the door and window side of the same job, and the full outdoor range sits in outdoor decor.
FAQs: Outdoor Lighted Christmas Decorations
What Are Wire Frame Christmas Decorations?
They are welded metal frames shaped into a figure, wrapped in colored mesh and strung with lights along the frame. They hold their shape permanently, need no motor or fan, and read as a clean outline of light from a distance. They store flatter than blow molds, and they look the same whether they are switched on or not.
Are Lighted Wire Frame Decorations Better Than Inflatables?
They suit different things. A wire frame has no motor, holds its shape whether or not it is switched on, and reads as a crisp outline of light from the street. An inflatable needs its fan running to stay up and can give you more visual size for the money. If the largest possible piece for the budget is the priority, an inflatable is worth looking at. If you want something that keeps its shape on its own and stores flat, a wire frame is the better fit.
How Do I Power Outdoor Christmas Decorations Safely?
Use one outdoor-rated extension cord with multiple outlets rather than chaining indoor cords together, keep every connection up off the ground and covered, and check that each piece uses a UL-listed adapter. Put the whole display on an outdoor timer. Because LED pieces generally use relatively little power, multiple decorations may be able to share a circuit, but check the total load and circuit rating first.
How Do You Keep Outdoor Decorations from Blowing Over?
Use every ground stake that came with the piece and fit them the way the supplied instructions describe. On hard surfaces where stakes will not go, check the product instructions for what the manufacturer recommends. Set everything up before the ground freezes, because once the ground is hard you will not get a stake into it.
How Tall Should an Outdoor Christmas Lamp Post Be?
Around 7 feet if it is standing alone beside a path or driveway, where it needs to hold its own against the house. Around 4 feet if it is sitting on a porch, by a door or on steps, where walls and the doorway already frame it. Buy 4 foot posts in pairs if you are flanking an entrance, because a matched pair looks intentional.
Can Lighted Deer and Lamp Posts Be Used Indoors?
Some can. The Set of 3 Deer Family is rated for indoor or outdoor use, and the 4 foot lamp posts are designed for either. Always check the specific listing, because a piece built purely for outdoor use may have a cable length and an adapter that make no sense inside. For outdoor use, check the product listing and adapter for the appropriate outdoor-use and safety ratings.
How Do I Store Wire Frame Christmas Decorations?
Bring them in, let them dry fully for a day or two before boxing, because damp stored metal rusts at the welds. Coil the power lead separately rather than wrapping it tight around the frame, which is what breaks the wire where it enters the housing. Tape the ground stakes inside the box and label what is in it.