AWFUL Decorations Next Door, Yuck!!

[JewelFreak]

Our driveways are about 20 ft. apart. Holy mackeral, my neighbor went nuts. He has 3 -- count 'em -- three enormous blow-up lighted thingies right. there. where we can't help but see them all the time. A gigantic Santa & 2 I-don't-know-whats. Plus a couple of light-covered reindeer, which I don't mind. His yard looks like the parking lot of WalMart or Target! And during the daytime when he has the power turned off to them, they collapse & become a large pile of brightly colored plastic slop.

This dodo is divorced & not the brightest bulb you ever met, at the best of times. Needs a woman to clean him up but nobody wants him! He has left a pile of woodchips 5 ft. tall between our driveways for 2 years, decided it was "too much work" to mulch his garden with them. Last spring he added 6 bales of pine needles to the mess, which I'm sure will also remain indefinitely.

Past time to call a nursery & have a big tall hedge put in. I gotta remind this dude he's Jewish, what's he got Christmas junk up for? Should be thankful for small favors -- he's a quiet neighbor except when he & girlfriend-of-the-minute (they don't last much longer than that) get in his hot tub & giggle half the night.

--- Laurie

 

[Missy]

Ugh, Laurie I feel for you! Sometimes next door neighbors don't have the best of taste.
Definitely fences/hedges/trees can make good neighbors. Just gotta be careful not to hurt the neighbor's feelings- but this guy sounds clueless so no worries there!

 

[Okie_girl]

Kind of reminds me of my Dad's neighbor. Here, he had not quite finished decorating, not all of the blow-up thingies were up. My personal favorite was the blow up merry-go-round that played music, and was located right outside the bedroom where I stay when I visit my dad. Could hear the music all night long! Very Griswoldesque. Thankfully, they moved away a couple of months ago.

 

[Cehrabehra]

I love the tackiness of others... saves me from having to do it. I think it's fun to look at but don't want to be the one being judged for it!

 

[partgypsy]

I'm the same way, I love to look at the tacky decorations, in someone else's yard. For us it was a big acheivement when my husband put up a couple sets of lights last year.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

My kids love the big blow up things... luckily the neighbors who decided to put the puffy santa, etc. up live a few blocks down the road. Both my neighbors have very pretty lights and garland, etc.

 

[monarch64]

Our driveways are about 20 ft. apart. Holy mackeral, my neighbor went nuts. He has 3 -- count 'em -- three enormous blow-up lighted thingies right. there. where we can't help but see them all the time. A gigantic Santa & 2 I-don't-know-whats. Plus a couple of light-covered reindeer, which I don't mind. His yard looks like the parking lot of WalMart or Target! And during the daytime when he has the power turned off to them, they collapse & become a large pile of brightly colored plastic slop.

This dodo is divorced & not the brightest bulb you ever met, at the best of times. Needs a woman to clean him up but nobody wants him! He has left a pile of woodchips 5 ft. tall between our driveways for 2 years, decided it was "too much work" to mulch his garden with them. Last spring he added 6 bales of pine needles to the mess, which I'm sure will also remain indefinitely.

Past time to call a nursery & have a big tall hedge put in. I gotta remind this dude he's Jewish, what's he got Christmas junk up for? Should be thankful for small favors -- he's a quiet neighbor except when he & girlfriend-of-the-minute (they don't last much longer than that) get in his hot tub & giggle half the night.

--- Laurie

I realize you're making a lot of these comments in jest, but I have to say that this line really stood out to me. Frankly, I find it really offensive.

 

[JewelFreak]

I knew somebody would come up with that. I'm Jewish too. Okay? Get offended but keep it to yourself. For heaven's sake. Life's too short. And even if I weren't -- can you find one letter in that sentence that's denigrating? God forbid we should mention that we are not carbon copies of each other, that there are differences among people. I guess noticing that you and I are not exactly alike is a horridly insulting thing to do. Sorry, but

 

[monarch64]

I knew somebody would come up with that. I'm Jewish too. Okay? Get offended but keep it to yourself. For heaven's sake. Life's too short.

I don't have to keep it to myself, it's a public forum. And yes, life is too short, so maybe you should stop getting offended over your neighbor's inability to keep the appearance of his property up to your standards.

 

[JewelFreak]

Maybe you worry about your neighbor & I'll say what I want about mine. I don't have to keep that to myself either. His neighbor on the other side called his stuff "atrocious." I'm with her!

 

[MichelleCarmen]

lol

 

[monarch64]

Maybe you worry about your neighbor & I'll say what I want about mine. I don't have to keep that to myself either. His neighbor on the other side called his stuff "atrocious." I'm with her!

Fair enough. I think this thread is totally worthless without pictures, though. I would like to see the offending atrocities.

 

[ruby59]

I am also Jewish with a Catholic husband. We have several interfaith families in the neighborhood. You should see the deorations around here combining the two holidays. You will find Stars of David hanging from decorated trees and tinsel hanging from menorahs sitting in picture windows.

 

[kenny]

I love this one.

 

[Missy]

I am also Jewish with a Catholic husband. We have several interfaith families in the neighborhood. You should see the deorations around here combining the two holidays. You will find Stars of David hanging from decorated trees and tinsel hanging from menorahs sitting in picture windows.

I am also Jewish( and married to a Catholic guy) and I have to second Monnie's request for pics!!!
Remember that emotie that we (used to?) have....this thread is useless without pics!!!

 

[Missy]

I love this one.

LOLOL!!!

 

[Puppmom]

Yes, pictures! When we were kids, my parents used to drive us to a house that was about 10 miles from ours just so we could see their ridulous decorations. We thought it was great!

 

[TravelingGal]

So much holiday spirit in this thread, I had to put on my Santa hat!

 

[iheartscience]

So much holiday spirit in this thread, I had to put on my Santa hat!

I need to find mine when I get home!

 

[MichelleCarmen]

I am also Jewish with a Catholic husband. We have several interfaith families in the neighborhood. You should see the deorations around here combining the two holidays. You will find Stars of David hanging from decorated trees and tinsel hanging from menorahs sitting in picture windows.

lol That is awesome!

My son's class made up a list of holiday words and my son brought that home and it was interesting to see the combination. It was a combo of a couple different traditions and menorah was one of the words, along side ornaments and decorations

 

[Jennifer W]

LOL!

I did not grow up in an area where people decorated their houses at Christmas. You do see some truly awesome sights round here now, but it's not the norm to put stuff outside.

What makes a decorated house tasteful and what makes it awful? Is this just personal taste, or is there a sort of formula for lovely vs over the top awful?

 

[mrscushion]

So much holiday spirit in this thread, I had to put on my Santa hat!

 

[MichelleCarmen]

LOL!

I did not grow up in an area where people decorated their houses at Christmas. You do see some truly awesome sights round here now, but it's not the norm to put stuff outside.

What makes a decorated house tasteful and what makes it awful? Is this just personal taste, or is there a sort of formula for lovely vs over the top awful?

Any yard with stuff needing to be blown up (like an inflatable snowman), made out of plastic (like reindeer), or has a sign with a cow holding a plaque saying "moooey christmas" (as one of my neighbor's down the road has) is ultra no-no.

Lights around the windows and trim of the house is fine. Wreathe on door is fine. Garland around porch is good.

My son wanted a blue light bulb by our garage and I got one of the high efficiency fluorencent ones and it looks like a black light! lol Perfect for halloween. My husband said it looks terrible but I don't want to hurt my son's feelings so alas, we have understated blue lights around our house with a black light as an accent.

 

[Jennifer W]

So lights are ok, but not inflatables. What about lights that are in the shape of something? My mother's neighbour has lights in the shape of a snowman.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

So lights are ok, but not inflatables. What about lights that are in the shape of something? My mother's neighbour has lights in the shape of a snowman.

I think one or two is fine. It's when people go nuts and their entire yard is covered like a zoo that controversy begins... lol I don't know. I love christmas decorations so I just laugh when I see the blow-up stuff. The worst is the giant snow globe ones! My kids ADORE those. The more over-the-top a house/yard is, the more thrill they get out of the holidays!

 

[Jennifer W]

There are one or two displays which are well worth taking a drive out of your way to see round here most years. They are actually a little bit disappointing now though. Ten years ago, you could not buy this stuff in Scotland. There were no light up or blow up or other outdoor decorations. Even outdoor lights were rare (just big coloured bulbs, like you'd put in a light fixture inside). People who wanted to decorate the outside of their houses (and there were always a few, in the rougher areas) well, they really had to put the effort in. They had to make their decorations. With varying degrees of skill and electrical safety. Like I say, worth taking a detour to view. Tasteful was never in it, but it was...interesting.

Now, they can just go and buy stuff. They can't buy the 'knowing when to stop' part, but still, it isn't like it used to be.

 

[Saoirse2]

I like tacky, mixed or nice decorations, they are all time consuming and not my place to judge.
Our neighbors are a Cath/Jewish couple with 6 children [2 in HS]. He has the largest Christmas tree in the neighborhood, she decorates outside in white and blue and hands out chai cookies early in the season.

 

[TravelingGal]

Well after last night, I have to say I am a fan of ANY decorations! My kid poked her head outside and said, "mommy look at all the lights! I love them!" I said, "yup, aren't they cool?" She said, "Yeah! Can we do OUR house like that?" I said, err...no.

Kid gets to enjoy and I don't have to do the work. I appreciate other people doing it for me!

 

[Enerchi]

Sorry but I don't have any tacky photos to post, but in a kind of perverse way... I like the tacky! I like it on someone else's yard where I can look at it then drive on... I would not be as enamoured if I actually lived next door to them.

I love the sparkle and light that all the decorations bring! It just makes the houses look "happy" at night

My personal preference are white lights in trees... as many as the branches can hold! I'm not a huge fan of the multi-colour strings. And in our neck of the woods, I find the blue ones to be very dark... maybe manufacturers are different in different geographical areas, but they are not bright.

Wish there were Pink or purple lights available... I'd be all over a string (or 200!) of those babies in a FLASH!!

 

[JewelFreak]

I think exuberance at Christmas is ok -- no objection to the pics put up so far. Yes, tons of lights are tacky, but it's fun. Others may not agree, & I'm kind of glad it's not my house, but it's all in the spirit of joy at least. I would not go for carousel music outside my window all night, however!

What I DON'T like is this....



....next door to me (or anywhere else I saw it constantly). No context to it and plopped down where he doesn't have to walk more than 3 steps from his garage. So you go to Sam's Club & get these monstrous things off a shelf & plug them in. That's Christmas? As Jennifer says, there has to be some of yourself in it. I don't necessarily think people need to make their own, but some kind of creativity & effort would be nice. Sorry to those who like them, but I think stuff like this should be against the law!

Tomorrow I'll take a photo of the heap of deflated dead plastic they become all day long.

--- Laurie