Outdoor Holiday Decor: We Need Help! {#CBias #Searsrealcheer}

I'm sure that we're not the only ones who do this, but every year my husband and I declare that the following year we are going to be more organized and timely and on-the-ball.

No, I'm not talking about making New Years' resolutions, I'm talking about decorating for the holidays.

We manage to get our Christmas tree up in a reasonable time (and trimmed, which is a job my husband refuses to do), but when it comes to the outside of the house, we seem to always miss the prime time. We're not thinking in advance enough to get the lights up in the fall when it's still slightly warm out... but then suddenly it's freezing cold and who wants to stand outside fiddling with strands of tiny lights when there is snow covering everything?

As the inside decorations are my duty, that means that the outside decor is left to my husband... which results in lights wound onto some of the bushes and maybe along the deck. I love the man, but standing out there in the cold ensuring that each strand is laid just right isn't his thing. I can't really blame him, although, at the same time, I wouldn't mind if the results were just a little more... I don't know, more.

Can you see the single strand of lights randomly wound around? Pretty thrilling.

We have a clear, open space in our front yard that we've always thought would work well with a larger holiday display, but the question has always been what in the world do we put there?

Fortunately, we had the opportunity to see if Sears could help fulfill our decorating needs. From big and bright to small and modest, I browsed through the Sears Holiday Shop and found a variety of fun items that could help fill our empty space.

Something here by the door, maybe?

And a fun display over here by the tree? This spot is just calling out for an inflatable snowman, don't you think?

My husband has actually always talked about adding inflatable decor, so when I saw the variety of Airblown items, I knew that he would get a kick out of them!

Heading to Sears, we oohed and aahed over the Christmas tree decorations on our way to the (small) section of outdoor decor. See our full (humorous) shopping trip in slideshow format here!

Fortunately, the decor was located directly next to the Toy Shop, so both of my kids were immediately entertained enough to let my husband and I browse through the available choices.

With only a tiny fraction of what was shown online actually available in-store, I was disappointed to see that the only inflatable item was a Disney Carousel... no happy snowmen in sight.

I found it hard to believe that someone would rather buy this strange purple hippo than an inflatable snowman!

And don't even get me started on my thoughts on this panda (who has a broken arm and is missing his scarf, hat and an ear). Really?

With the slim pickings available, we ended up selecting two Green Light Spiral Trees and have plans to try them out near the front door as well as directly in front of the house.

For our next holiday decor shopping, I think we'll be sure to take advantage of Sears' free shipping offers as well as their guarantee to order an item online and pick it up easily in-store, because I still see this guy in our future!

For now, I'm excited to put together our Light Trees and see how they look and how much more festive they make our yard. When we're done with that, I'm also looking forward to adding a picture of our decorations to the Sears Cheer Tree so that we can be a part of this fun holiday decorating inspiration!

Stay tuned for the before and after pictures in the upcoming weeks... but, for now, I'd love to hear about your holiday decor. Do you go all out? Skip it entirely? What kind of items do you prefer to use to cheer up your outdoor space?

This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias but all thoughts and opinions are honest and my own. #CBias