Fa-la-la-la-la, La-la-la-la.
We used a total of 5 strings of 70 white LED lights plus one string of 70 LED icicle lights for the front of the house — two of those strings are on Cthulhu — a total of 420 little twinkling LEDs. Technically we also have the three strings of multicoloured solar-powered lights on the tree but we rarely get enough light in the winter for them to actually work. We also put some of those large-ish plastic ornaments on the tree out front (you can see them silhouetted against the windows in the shot to the right). I guess maybe 420 lights doesn’t count as “a-plenty” — our neighbours have lots more lights — but I think ours looks just fine.
On the other side of the equation are the people who are paying $82,000 for a month to power a million lights on their house. With that many lights I think my brain would start glowing. The best part of that story, if they switched to LED lights, their bill would drop to under $11K for the same timeframe.
Inside the house, we also put up the tree which is pre-lit but we had to add a string of lights to make up for one string that seems to be dead (still not bad for a tree we got for around $20 from Walgreens three years ago) and decorated it. It’s the first year we’ve put up a tree with Mini in the house and she is very curious about its purpose. We put up other decorations, too. I think we’re done with the main floor; we will be doing something with the basement, too, since we’ll be eating down there; it’s the only space we can put a table for 12! Of course, the decorating will come after I’ve cleaned and tidied down there. We have to stow all the crafts and all the LEGO. Should be a challenge.