Looking for something different this year for your outdoor holiday light display? We’ve got something for you today… and it’s not a little something. We’re talking a BIG something: a giant lighted star. And when we say giant, we mean GIANT: 16 feet tall! We’ve done this for a couple years now and we love that it’s festive but not the same as everyone in the neighborhood. What do you think?
This huge outdoor Christmas light star is not too hard to set up, either. The simple 5-point star looks great — what’s more festive than a star during the holidays! We made a video of the whole process for you, so watch that here and be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel, too!
How to Build Your Own Giant Lighted Star for Christmas Yard Decor
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As you can see in the video, a giant lighted star for your yard comes together pretty quickly, about 90 minutes — plus, you won’t have to dangle off the peak of the roof to get those lights on the eaves in just the right spot!
Materials needed for a lighted christmas star
- 1/2″ metal conduit – 2, 8-foot lengths (or 2, 10′ lengths just cut one to 6′)
- metal coupling x 2
- hammer
- Phillips screwdriver
- stakes
- zip ties
- reciprocating saw
- white Christmas lights – 170 feet total for a double strand of lights like we used
- extension cord with light timer
Measurements for a 16-foot Christmas light star
I based this diagram on what would look best by using our 9-foot high gutters as the horizontal section of the star. If your gutters are a different height, you’ll want to adjust the other measurements to maintain the geometry of the star. Click here for a larger resolution diagram and printed instructions.
Tips for a DIY huge Christmas star with lights
Tip #1: Get a timer! It’s a bummer to put the work into a fun Christmas light display and then forget to turn it on some nights — or, worse IMO, to have to go out in the cold to plug them in every night. We have a timer like this that’s worked well for us.
Tip #2: Don’t skimp on the stakes. As you can see in the video, our grass was still nice and green and bare when we installed the star, which made it easy to get the stakes in firmly. Be sure that you have good quality stakes that are pounded into the ground as firmly as you can get them so you won’t have to redo the star at the first change of the weather.
Tip #3: Zip ties are your friend. They’re cheap and readily available, so use zip ties liberally on your holiday lights! And don’t think that they can only be used for attaching one thing to another — see in the video how I used a chain of zip ties for the lights? Using zip ties to hang Christmas lights makes them secure so that you won’t have to try to re-hang lights in the snow.
PS: You might want to invest in the jumbo pack of zip ties when you how you can use zip ties on other projects like these: power tool organizer, rolling basket, gothic arch garden arbor trellis, flushmount light update, chevron lattice trellis with planter pots.
More outdoor Christmas light ideas:
$3 lighted wood star for porch decor
easy DIY light stands for string lights
plus more ways to hang string lights in your yard, for Christmas and year-round!
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