Christmas is upon us! The time for merriment and terrible sweaters is here! And what better way to get in the spirit than to decorate your house (or dorm) to the max!

If you’re stuck a dorm room for the holiday season and you're not allowed to have tree lights, turn to homemade decorations to bring on the spirit! Make paper snowflakes so your prison cell is transformed into a Winter Wonderland.

But if you’re home for the holidays, break out the ladder and get some gloves on. It’s light time! My family dedicates an entire day to the outside decorations. My dad climbs up and down the ladder getting the strings of lights to drape just the right amount. Then we place all of our wooden handmade decorations on the lawn. A custom-made Candy Cane Lane covers the yard, populated with two snowmen and a scarf-wearing dog. Our wooden candy canes have seen a lifetime and pepper the lawn with red and white that remind me of the Candy Cane Forest from the movie "Elf".

There are a number of houses in my area that take Christmas lights very seriously. There’s a home that brands the entire area in white and blue lights. They encompass the entire front and backyard and every tree that’s on their property. The lights remind me of snowy winters where everything is white. The blue lights always prompt “Blue Christmas” to play in my head as I slowly drive down the street. It’s a house that manages to make a thousand lights look like a masterpiece instead of a catastrophe. I can’t help but visit multiple times a year.

Closer to home, and what I would call a holiday treasure to my hometown, is Johnny's Hazlet Holiday Light Extravaganza. It’s truly an extravaganza. This man starts creating this project every year in September so he can finish in time for the whole town to appreciate it all December long.

He opens up his entire property for people to come and enjoy the lights and holiday spirit. From surrounding his driveway, front lawn, and backyard, the whole lot is open and decorated with the most genuine holiday spirit I have ever seen.

Each year, Santa and the Grinch visit to say hello to all the kids, adults, and even angsty teenagers to create such a magical experience. If you’re ever lost the Christmas spirit, a visit to Johnny’s Extravaganza will turn that around in seconds.

So whether you’re stuck with creating your own Winter Wonderland out of paper, or you're able to put up the lights with your family, don’t forget to make some hot chocolate along the way.