It’s that time of year again… Christmas lights time of year that is! This is my second most favourite time of the year; there’s cheer in the air, everyone’s spirits are high, cricket is on the telly and I get to dress the house up like a Las Vegas casino.

For the last two years I’ve doused the front yard with thousands of LEDs to create a little bit of magic in my neighbourhood. It’s no cake walk either, when you consider that last year’s effort comprised more than 5kms of cabling, 40,000 environmentally-friendly LEDs, 176 channels of synchronised music and Australias largest privately-owned illuminated Christmas tree.

So why do I do it? The simple answer is because its fun. The complex answer is its a creative outlet that provides funds for a good cause. It’s not just our place that gets into the spirit either, our neighbours join in too. And in the true spirit of Christmas, we were able to give something back to people who need it most. In 2007 we raised $12,000 for the Princess Margaret Childrens Foundation, and then in 2008 we doubled that figure!

If you’ve not seen the footage from last year, view it here. Over the past 2 years, these videos have been viewed more than 400,000 times. It’s even better when you drive past and tune your car radio in to our special FM frequency.

Sure, it would be easier not to spend 500 hours on the Christmas Lights. But when I step back and view the light show and watch the endless stream of neighbours, young and old, wander down to our home, I forget about the effort required. Oh, and I reckon the Perth’s Children’s Hopsital can bank on $30k from those to drop by this year.