I love the usual Christmas lights on houses. But I love even more having something just a little different than everyone else. I found that something this year for my outdoor lighted Christmas display.

It was the project that seemed like it would never come to an end. Cutting, sanding, painting, sealing, stapling, installing. It took many evenings spent after work to complete but was oh so worth it seeing it lit up against the house.

I used templates from shopbarberellahome, printed them on my home printer, taped them together, cut out the shapes and traced onto plywood.

Using a jigsaw, I cut out each shape.

Three layers each of white paint and sealer were applied to help protect the wood from the weather. Then I stapled clear mini Christmas lights to the back of each shape.

We used 2x4s as spacers to layer the pieces so the lights would reflect off each layer. The display looks nice during the day but –

– the magic happens when it gets dark.

I see more added to the display in future years once the memory of the time these took to make has faded from my memory, much like the pain of childbirth.