My new book, “Merry Christmas, America!,” is an eye-popping, cross-country adventure to meet the people who climb on their houses each year to prove that anything worth doing is worth doing over the top. These are the neighbors who electrify the holidays and go all out to make every Christmas the brightest, merriest, happiest Christmas ever.

I’ve been addicted to these illuminated, inflated, animated front yards since my teens, when I began trying to win my neighborhood’s decorating contest. The first year, though I didn’t win, I got my picture in the paper as “the kid who tried to wrap his house like a present.” Another year, in another failed attempt to win the “Best House” award and its congratulatory red-lettered sign, I made it look like Santa had fallen off our house into a giant leaf pile in our front yard. I still believe I was robbed! The Nickels, with their understated Charlestonian pineapple-candle-in-each-window routine, beat my Santa-legs-and-black-boots-sticking-out-of-a-leaf-pile-and-flailing-about-in-the-breeze. Perhaps if we had snow in South Carolina my concept would have been a little more compelling.

In fact, I’ve never won the “Best House” award. But that didn’t — or hasn’t — stopped me from trying. In my annual ho-ho-ho pursuits, I’ve learned a thing or two about holiday decorating that help make it quick, easy and fun. Here are a few ideas on how to wrap your Christmas in a package that won’t send you over the edge or over your credit limit:

Outdoor lighting like a pro
1. Make sure you have enough amps and extension cords to support your megawatt dreams.

2. If you’re buying new lights, “think green” and buy LED. They use up to 90% less energy and aren’t as temperamental since they don’t have filaments. 

3. Give your lights extra bedazzle by adding garland. You can prevent sagging and gaps by either using the clips on some light sets to neatly tuck in garland or use color-coordinated pipe cleaners to affix garland to the light strands.

4. If you’re remodeling your house or building new, remember to add some outlets beneath your eaves and in your yard for special “holiday” lighting.

5. Whether inside or out, always hang lights with them plugged in. Besides giving you a real idea of how the finished extravaganza will look, this will save you countless hours searching for that one bulb that has gone kaplooey. When they fritz, you’ll know it instantly.

One, two, three, tree!
How to make the easiest tree for your yard! Supplies: tomato cage, one strand of lights, wire.

1. Take a tomato cage and turn it upside down. (Largest ring on the ground.)

2. Use a piece of floral wire (or garbage bag twist tie) to join the three stakes (now at top) into an apex.

3. Starting at the bottom, take one strand of Christmas lights and encircle the form all the way to the top. Messy and loose is fine.  

Tree! Place one or more in your yard to make an easy, gorgeously lit forest.

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