Original subtitles

All: In three, two, one!

Let there be light!

Narrator: Christmas is going to be tree-mendous...

Taniya: That is a Christmas tree made out of blow molds.

...as four families with an eye for design...

Are those plastic bowls as eyeballs? Michael: Yes, they are.

Narrator: ...paint the town red for the holidays...

Taniya: I feel like you took a giant paintbrush

and just splashed lights.

...and judge Taniya Nayak...

Your name in lights. Whoo! Thank you for that.

...awards another $50,000 prize.

Like nothing I've ever seen before.

So hope you saved room for dessert...

Lyle: Welcome to our bakery.

How is this your house?

...because "The Great Christmas Light Fight"...

This is gigantic!

...is on!

Is that one of your favorite things?

[ Babbles ]

"Love it." You love it.

-- Captions by VITAC --

♪♪

All: We're the Laakso family, and we're nuts for Christmas.

Since this is a "Nutcracker" theme,

we need to move those nutcrackers

from the back to the front. Okay.

Christmastime, to me, means making memories for the family.

It has to go in a little further.

I've been doing my extreme Christmas display

probably at least 20 years.

That looks good. Let me move him a little.

Our display's kind of an experience you can,

like, walk through.

There's, like, different layers, and the more you look at it,

the more you realize how good it is.

-This is my favorite. -Yeah.

Jennifer: We've been coming to my parents' house for Christmas

since the kids were all very little,

but now that they're older, they're part

of making the magical place.

Alright, you got that side.

Can you take the other side?

Everybody helps put up the Christmas lights.

-Yeah. -Yeah.

You don't really have to loosen it that much.

Yeah, I just need to pull it off.

My favorite part of working on the display

would be the light wall.

Lisulo: My favorite part is the roof.

You got to put all the snowflakes in the right spot.

You got to space them out right.

Mwangala: Whenever I started helping with the lights,

it kind of just, like, amazed me

that Grandpa Jeremy used to do this all by himself.

I'm really proud of him for doing it for this long.

I think we're going to be ready for Taniya tonight.

♪♪

[ Cheers and applause ]

Yes! Hi!

Hi, everybody. -Welcome.

Wow. Fancy.

Trying to impress ya. Well, we have very classy lights,

and so we decided to dress very classy.

Very classy. Now, tell me who you are.

I'm Jeremy Laakso, and this is my wife, Patricia,

and our beautiful daughters and grandchildren.

So we have generations here, huh?

A lot of kids. That means there's a lot of lights.

Yep.

So, I am ready to see it.

What do we need to do to get it started?

My granddaughter Mwangala is going to bring it,

dressed as Clara.

Patricia: We have a "Nutcracker" theme going on.

Ooh, a "Nutcracker" theme.

You look stunning. Thank you.

Okay. And this is the remote to operate the lights.

All we got to do is pull the lever up.

Okay. Y'all ready? Woman: We're ready.

In three, two, one!

Whoo-hoo! [ Cheers and applause ]

Whoa!

Yay!

It is sparkly. It's bright.

Wow. And not just gorgeous, it looks meticulous.

There's a combination of playfulness and elegance

all rolled in one here.

Everything that I'm seeing, from that giant orb

to the mega tree and the sheet of lights back there.

This is absolutely stunning.

I love it.

Do you guys want to go take a look?

-Yes. Let's go. -All of us?

-Alright. -Let's go.

Yes. Wow, you guys. Incredible job.

This is beautiful.

It is just a beautiful, beautiful scene right here.

Where do we begin?

Let's just walk through the soldiers here.

They kind of guard the first path.

Taniya: We are being greeted.

Are these something you've had in the family for a long time?

I got them about 10, 12 years ago. 10, 12 years ago?

Yeah, I've been collecting for very -- well, 30 years.

[ Chuckles ] 30 years.

Well, this sphere here -- all PVC pipes.

Do you know how many pieces there are?

There's a lot. A lot. A lot.

There's four controllers that control the whole thing.

There's 6,000 pixels on this sphere.

Incredible.

I noticed that you have the lights

throughout the grass, and I don't see wires.

I took chicken wire and made wire frames.

Previously, when I tried it,

the lights would all fall into the foliage... Okay.

...so I had to come up with a way

that it would always stay up.

Woman: They're all kind of individual things, you see...

Oh, okay. ...and then you have to connect them all.

I love how they just kind of add a lot of substance

to the display.

Alright, Taniya, let's show you

where things kind of began for me.

Was in Orlando and saw the sign "Ultimate Yard Ornaments."

I went there, and I bought pretty well

everything he had in his yard.

Taniya: Oh, you did?

That was kind of the start of my extreme decorating.

I love how you phrased that -- extreme decorating.

Then another thing is this wall -- 15,000 pixels.

15,000 pixels. 15,000 pixels on that wall.

Wow. And it's made from safety fence,

which I had to hand-punch all the holes,

and I had to push the capsules through each hole.

It's really well worth it

because it takes up such a beautiful backdrop over here,

and it really sets the tone for the whole display. Mm-hmm.

This is really tall. How tall is it? 20 feet.

And how wide? 80 feet.

Gigantic. Yeah, it is.

Did I see my name up there in lights earlier?

Here we go. "Merry Christmas..." "Christmas."

"...Taniya." Yay! [ Chuckles ]

Your name in lights. Whoo!

And you spelled it right, too. Yes, we did.

I'm impressed. [ Chuckles ]

Thank you for that.

Well, show me this gazebo. This is beautiful.

If I had a dime for every picture on Facebook

of this gazebo.

Taniya: Can you imagine how many Christmas cards

have been made right here?

We were married in this gazebo. [ Gasps ] You were?

Yes, we were. Yes.

We built it especially for our wedding.

So this has been a very special place for people in love. Aww.

The little children love to run around, too. Right.

Yeah, we have to rearrange all these packages every night.

You do? Oh, that's too funny.

Now I can really see those snowflakes

up on the roof beautifully.

The runners are magnetic that I put down,

and also the snowflakes have magnets.

Ah. Put it there, and it's just -- it's on.

We use poles to move them around,

and then we run extension cords

to hook everything up to a controller.

It looks so good, and, again, it's so classy.

Good job.

Taniya: What I am most impressed about this display

is the fact that there's a lot happening.

It's playful, it's fun, it's elegant.

From this giant wall of lights to that huge orb

that's changing colors,

you name it, it's all on this display,

but it is so tastefully done.

That's not easy to do.

Being with you all is, like, so much fun.

A little bit of "Nutcracker," a little bit of elegance,

and I'm not going to lie, I did love seeing my name

on a wall of lights that's 20 foot by 80 feet.

That was pretty special. Jeremy: Well, thank you.

And I want to thank my family for all the time and effort.

Well, we loved it, and we love you.

Alright. Love you, too.

I love you guys. [ Laughter ]

Thank you. I need to get going.

Let me call you a sleigh.

Oh, my gosh, look at this.

Hi, Santa. Oh, this is fun.

I love your reindeer.

Together: Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas, everyone.

-Bye. -Bye.

Jeremy: Loved having you here.

Whoo-hoo! Let's go, Santa.

Patricia: I miss her already.

Jennifer: She was great. It was a good time.

-That was fun. -That was fun.

♪♪

Hey, I'm Mike. And I'm Lyle.

And we take vintage...

and make it new again. And make it new again.

Is it not working?

Nope.

You don't even have it plugged in, Lyle.

[ Laughs ]

Michael: Growing up as a kid,

my family would take us to the local nursery

where they would have animated displays.

Now that I'm old enough to be able to afford them,

we now put them in our own yard.

The eyes are always the hardest part to paint.

We have the largest collection of animatronics,

all vintage, not brand-new out of the box store.

She's fine.

Lyle: They can come to us armless, legless, headless,

and he can restore it and turn it into a brand-new piece.

Alright, so looks good.

Most people aren't even going to know that this is spackle.

They're going to think this is actual icing.

With Mike's competitive personality,

he wants to make something bigger and better every year.

Whenever I do something, I play to win.

Our display is absolutely obnoxious.

We have a 35-foot blow-mold tree.

We have so many blow molds in that thing,

it's, like, exploding in our front lawn.

I think we're just about done.

I think Taniya's going to lose her mind

when she sees what we have.

We have so many elements

that she's probably never seen before

on the 12 years of this show.

She gets to see a blow-mold tree.

She gets to see animatronics that nobody else has.

[ Both laugh ]

[ Cheers and applause ] Taniya: Hi.

Hello.

Hi. -Hi.

Nice to meet you guys. Welcome.

Wow. You got a big crowd tonight, huh?

We sure do. Welcome, Taniya. Yeah, rain or shine,

it doesn't matter, does it?

Nope. No, it doesn't.

I'm Michael. And I'm Lyle,

and this is all of our friends and our family.

Hi, friends and family.

You guys look amazing.

Thank you. So do you.

So, what am I going to see today in your display?

We're hoping to show you something you've never seen before.

We have lots of vintage. It's a static display... Okay.

...but we have some moving elements.

Alright, I like it.

Okay, are you guys ready to see some lights?

Together: Yes!

The people have spoken.

I think it's time. Alright, Taniya.

Let's walk over here and check it out.

Alright. Well, Taniya...

What is this contraption?

I have a very special present for you tonight.

It's not as fancy as the one you present to everyone...

Well, it's pretty nice, I must say.

But we would like to give you the honor

of actually finishing our display

and screwing in the very last lightbulb.

Yes. This is what's going to turn it on?

Absolutely. All you have to do

is just take this bulb and screw it right into the socket.

Okay. Want to trade? Sure.

Umbrella for a lightbulb.

So when we count down from three,

what are we going to say?

Let there be light.

Let there be light.

Here we go.

All: In three, two, one!

Let there be light!

Whoo!

Oh, my gosh, you guys.

This is amazing.

Wow. I've never seen anything like this before.

Never. This is incredible.

Christmas tree made out of blow molds.

And then you have the train, all these amazing vignettes,

all of the animatronics.

This is incredible.

Well, I want to get in there. I want to look at everything.

Do you guys want to come and take a look with us?

Together: Yeah! Let's go, then. What are we waiting for?

Let's go.

Whoo-hoo!

Look at all of it.

What do you think? I like the cat.

You like the cat?

Girl: Where's Happy?

-Happy. -Well, there's Sleepy.

Come on, Taniya. This way.

Taniya: Ah. This is so cool

because it's not just the animatronics,

which is amazing in and of itself,

but even the backdrop.

Michael: I actually hand-painted this backdrop. Did you?

I hand-paint most of our backdrops

throughout the entire display.

I actually end up painting a lot

of the actual pieces themselves.

Oh, you do? Yes, we actually rehab most of the things we find.

I just can't even stop staring at this and all the detail.

An awesome, awesome vignette.

As I walk through your display,

I can really see how much detail

is going into every single thing.

We completely redecorate it each year. You do?

We will take the entire scene out and change it each year

'cause I don't want anyone to see the same scene twice.

It is working.

[ Singsong voice ] Candy.

It's a candy-cane forest

where they are chopping up the candy-cane logs

and turning them into little peppermints.

Peppermints.

These pieces don't look like they did when we got them.

He restored them, painted them.

Everything down to their faces,

their clothing -- I've sewn everything.

It's amazing.

♪♪

So what do we have here?

Lyle: We have our tree houses here.

We have our foxes, and we also have our family of... Michael: Raccoons.

Wait, this is not a real tree, right?

No, this is not. It looks like a real tree.

And I have never seen a Christmas tree house before.

And it is so cool. The fact that you have it

looking like it's notched in to a pine tree is wild.

I'm super impressed.

We had to actually take part of it apart in the back

to actually stretch it out,

to give this whole illusion of it being this giant tree,

so we could hide all the mechanisms in the back of it.

Can I see what that looks like back there?

Absolutely. Let's go check it out. Yeah?

Get out of here.

Well, Taniya, this is how we built our tree house.

Wow. We have our panel tree frame here.

We use some scaffolding and some 4x4s

to kind of cantilever them off the front,

give us that added height.

Then we have our straps to the tree

to prevent them from blowing over.

We took all the branches out of the back,

as you can see from here, and we kind of stretched them

to kind of make the full illusion in the front. Wow.

It's amazing.

♪♪

And then next we have our blow-mold tree.

Taniya: I can't even believe that you came up

with this genius idea to build a tree with blow molds.

Michael: It's just a little glimpse of the inside of my brain. Yes. [ Laughs ]

This is a one-of-a-kind.

I've never seen blow molds used in this way before.

So we started with a 30-foot panel tree frame.

We then started building from the top down.

From the top down? Top down.

Michael: Top down. It's a jigsaw puzzle

without any of the right pieces.

Do you have, like, a way to get in there?

Is there one blow mold that moves out of the way

so that you can climb in?

So right in here...

...we have a hidden trap door.

It's like a secret passageway.

So I can just climb in? You sure can.

Just be careful. Watch your head.

Okeydokey.

She's been doing her yoga poses.

[ Laughs ] Whoa!

This is awesome. The tree frame itself is pretty wild.

But, yeah, as you can see, we do our best

to try and hide every little spot.

It's wild to see how you attach them all with zip ties, right?

Yes, hundreds and hundreds of zip ties.

The outside is one magnificent thing,

but to see how you did it is another thing.

Very cool. Alright, I'm coming out, you guys.

You are little. Can squeeze in there.

Oh, that was awesome.

We got more to see. Let's do it.

♪♪

So, the train.

The train came about with another collection

we found of pieces,

and they weren't originally supposed to be a train set...

Okay. ...but we turned them into a train set.

Random pieces of wood we had, and scrap metal,

an old fiberglass mold.

So cool. We come on down.

The caboose.

We can see what the elves are cooking up. Ah.

It looks like they got some cookies going.

It's so fun. Did you make all the cookies and everything?

I actually piped out all of the edges... Wow.

...to actually make these look like realistic oversize cookies.

Taniya: What'd you use for it? Just joint compound.

[ Chuckles ] It's a lightweight --

just put it through a pastry bag,

kind of the same texture as icing, but it's --

Mmm, tasty. [ Laughter ]

Joint-compound icing.

And then you have all these awesome animatronics,

and they're just so vibrant. This is great.

We can head off to the driveway to see more.

Okay, let's go.

Look at this.

This is like a whole "Alice in Wonderland" scene.

Sure is.

Oh, my gosh, it's beautiful.

Look at that.

Did you make that with twigs and stuff?

Like, how did --

The actual cat is all zip ties. What?

That is zip ties creating the fur?

Are those plastic bowls as eyeballs?

Yes, they are. [ Chuckles ]

The entire structure underneath is built out of PVC pipe

that we melted to heat into the right structure... Okay.

...covered the whole thing in carpet,

spray-painted the whole thing. So cool.

Lyle: So, Taniya, we tried to save the best for last.

We got one more thing to show you,

if you have the time. I sure do.

Alright, let's go this way.

So, Taniya, this is our bakery.

Yeah, let's go. Do you want to go inside?

Welcome to our bakery.

Look at this. How is this your house?

Lyle: Welcome to our bakery.

Taniya: Look at this. What? What is it?

What? How is this your house?

Oh, my God.

I'm, like, looking at everything.

I didn't even notice this in the middle, the giant cake.

Michael: We took the piping you saw out on the cookies

to a bit more of an extreme here,

and made all the cakes. No kidding.

Wow. You have a gingerbread factory.

We actually handmade each gingerbread house

moving on each conveyor belt.

Stop. This is so fun.

We wanted to give the effect of them not being decorated

and then coming out completely decorated.

And each one's an original, different look. Incredible.

So they're actually on a belt,

and then they're going down, recirculating,

and those are going -- it's just awesome.

And the timing of it really works.

It's, like, you nailed it.

It took a lot of time

to figure out the timing on the two.

This is amazing.

We got Mrs. Claus over here,

baking you up -- serving you some cookies.

Did you decorate all of these yourselves?

I handmade all of the outfits,

painted all their faces.

All of these pieces in here look vintage,

but they were just made this year.

I can't even believe that. I love it.

Taniya: Cakes moving, Mrs. Claus baking,

a gingerbread factory.

Everything just came to life, and it was good enough to eat.

I had so much fun tonight with Lyle and Michael.

This display was incredible.

The McCarty-Williamses have definitely left

a sweet impression.

Wow. I'll tell you what,

a little rain could not put a damper on tonight.

You promised me that I would see things

that I have never seen before, and you came through --

the Christmas-tree tree house.

Seen a tree house before.

I've never seen a Christmas-tree

tree house before.

Have I seen blow molds before? Yes.

Have I seen a blow-mold Christmas tree before? No.

We really enjoyed just being able to show you

all of our skills and talent and all the hard work

we really put into this.

And for you to enjoy it,

it makes it that much more enjoyable for us.

You guys, thank you. We'll see you.

Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas.

Bye. Bye.

Whoo-hoo! Wait.

[ Chuckles ]

Oh, my goodness.

I can't wait to see if she comes back.

Let's get out of this rain.

[ Chuckles ]

♪♪

All: We're the Hetheringtons.

And we shape lights from above.

Start it about right here,

get them sideways, and just go straight down.

We own a landscaping service, and we're contractors.

It's fun doing Christmas lights.

And I can quickly design something in my mind

and start laying it out.

Remember what we did last time with the roof

running the lights?

This year I want to do that on the ground.

And the nightmare begins. [ Laughter ]

Our Christmas lights are lawn lights

that are laid on top of each other.

There's five different layers, but they all go

in a different direction.

Alright, you got it in the right line? Yep.

He's the go-to guy for his welding. He can weld.

Got about 50 more stars to go,

and you ought to be alright.

It's going pretty good.

I can cut it, pretty much bend it,

and I'll lay everything out for him,

and then he welds it up. Keep it up.

He doesn't cut it, and he doesn't lay it out.

It's not exactly that way.

There's not so much a plan.

Michelle: We build all of our things

except for the few inflatables that you have.

Everything else they have made here on the property.

Everything we have is out on our lawn.

Everything that I ever thought about is --

Put it all out there, literally, on the lawn.

It's out, yes. It's all out there.

♪♪

[ Cheers and applause ]

Hi.

Well, I am so happy to see

your big, bright, shiny, sunny smiles on this rainy day.

I'm Kevin. Kevin, nice to meet you.

This is my wife, Michelle.

This is the Hetherington family.

Hi, Hetherington family.

We are going to actually get in this little lift truck. Okay.

There's half-a-million lights on each side, pretty much.

A lot of these lights are in the ground.

You can see everything from walking through,

it's no problem, but you get a much better view

when you're up in the air. Much better view.

I can't wait. Shall we get it started?

Alright. Yeah? Alright, let's do it.

Alright, are you really taking me up on this thing?

We are. Get your hat on first. There we go.

I love it.

Alright, we got to have our safety vest

so everybody can see you.

Okay.

[ Engine starts ]

Ooh, ouch. [ Chuckles ]

Thank goodness for these hard hats.

[ Laughs ]

[ People cheer ]

Whoa-oa-oa!

What do I need to do up here to get it started?

All we got to do is push this little red button.

Okay. Here we go!

Together: In three, two, one!

Whoa-oa-oa!

Oh, my goodness. [ Gasps ]

Together: In three, two, one!

Whoa-oa-oa!

Oh, my goodness. [ Gasps ]

Your entire lawn is covered.

Incredible.

Yes!

I just can't even believe how perfectly straight

these lights are.

Wow.

And I see a mega tree.

You even have lights on the roof dancing around.

No way.

Whoo-hoo!

Ah.

This is beautiful.

Look at that.

Amazing. Whoa. [ Cheers and applause ]

Like nothing I've ever seen before.

Nothing. Thank you. Thank you very much.

How do we get down from this thing?

Ah! [ Laughs ]

Whoo-hoo-hoo! I loved it from up there,

and I know I'm going to love it from down here.

You guys want to come along and take a look?

Woman: Yeah. Come on. Let's go.

Whoo-hoo! Yes!

Oh, wow. I mean, it's just as cool down here.

That was just the coolest experience, to be able

to go up on the lift and see all of this.

That was a good idea. Well, thank you.

This is artwork, what you did here,

using lights as your medium.

I feel like you took a giant paintbrush

and just splashed lights across, you know?

Did you draw this out on a computer

or by hand or anything?

No.

All of this stuff is just his imagination.

He can envision things and then make it come to life.

Proof is in the lights.

Yeah, and he changes it every year.

Oh, you do?

I get bored too easy looking at the same thing,

and so I was like, "Eh, let's do something different."

Yeah. Well, I love it.

You have everything out here. You have inflatables.

But what really caught my eye,

especially from up there, was the rooftop.

All of the lights on the roof are L.E.D.

Every color you see is an individual strand.

I thought that they were changing colors.

No. Very cool.

♪♪

Taniya: Whoa. How are you?

How's it going? Okay, I got to say,

this little thing right here, it is incredible.

This is one of my dad's wild ideas.

Rebar is not something that is a very flexible material.

So how do you bend it?

I actually built a tool... Oh.

...that rolls this stuff out. You get the circles.

There's a big, old crank, and it rolls it up.

You welded it all together? Mm-hmm.

This is really spectacular.

Whoa! This is gigantic!

How tall is that? Kevin: 50 feet.

50.

How do you even get up there

to build this and create this?

We have a bucket truck.

Kind of like what we were in earlier? Yes.

I love it. It's so fun.

Everywhere you look on your property,

there's something different to see,

and it all showcases your artistic mind.

Taniya: Kevin's display was like a painting on a canvas,

and seeing Kevin's display from up in the air

did not disappoint.

It was huge.

Kevin is truly an artist, and his art supplies are rebar,

PVC, and, of course, Christmas lights.

That was amazing.

Guys, I really had such a wild ride.

Literally, you guys put me up on that thing.

Kevin, you're a man of few words

but a man of great talent. Truly.

It felt like a painting coming to life

with Christmas lights.

It just makes me proud of them --

all the time and energy and effort they put into it.

It's nice to see him get the recognition he deserves.

I loved what I saw. So impressed with you.

Thank you. Thank you so much.

Can I have a big hug? Yeah. Yes.

Aww. Alright, Merry Christmas, you guys.

Merry Christmas. Bye.

Oh, cool. She called it artwork.

-Oh, yes. -How cool is that?

♪♪

Both: We're the Kittell family,

and we turn trash into Christmas treasure.

Alright, we got to get all these finished.

146 trees.

When a person comes and sees our lights,

they're going to see a very eclectic display.

You're going to see mega trees

and a lot of small trees

that I built out of PVC pipe.

1 down, 156 to go.

You're going to see dandelions

that I created from water bottles.

And then I put it through here.

We have a green wreath that's made out of soda bottles.

A lot of the things you see are reclaimed.

Barb: Here are the rest of the milk jugs.

Thank you very much.

Keith: Everything you see out there

has to be done in a special way

to make it fit in our budget,

so I build a lot of the things.

I don't do it cheap, I just do it inexpensive.

90% of what you see out there, I built.

You're going to see some things

that are just going to knock your socks off.

Whoa! Hi! -Hi.

Hello. Can I have a hug?

Barb: Nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you. Hi, everybody.

Hi. My name's Keith.

This is my wife, Barb, and all of our friends.

Yes. Hi, everybody.

Hi, cutie pie.

Say, "Hi." [ Chuckling ] Hi.

I'll take that big smile. [ Laughter ]

So tell me about your display.

Each year, Barb comes up with an idea,

and I make it happen.

But we built most of this with our hands.

Oh, wow. So you guys are some DIYers?

Yes. I love that.

Ready to take you over there so we can get these lights started?

Yeah, you want to get it started? Alright, let's go.

Come on. [ Cheers and applause ]

So, what do we do with this?

We built a candy-cane switch...

...and all you need to do Ooh.

is turn on the power and turn on the lights.

Y'all ready to do it? [ Cheers and applause ]

Let's do it.

All: Three, two, one!

Whoa! Oh, my gosh.

All: Three, two, one!

Whoo!

Whoa-oa-oa!

Whoa! Oh, my gosh.

Keith, Barb.

Look at that archway.

Oh, my gosh. And all these cutouts.

They look hand-painted. Christmas trees everywhere.

Wow. And I am seeing some DIY,

which I'm really excited about.

A giant mega tree, a big cross.

Incredible.

I'm ready to go take a look.

I feel like we should all get in there.

Let's do it. Want to go in?

Come on. Let's go.

Yeah, this is awesome.

♪♪

♪♪

This is so grand.

You feel like a celebrity walking through here.

So how do you do this? How do you build these arches?

Keith: Three 10-foot pieces of PVC pipe.

But what we do is I drive this big PVC pipe down...

Okay. ...and then I put that one in,

so now it's like this, feed that one in, screw it,

then we put the crossbeams in.

It didn't go unnoticed to me that you painted them all red.

I like color. I can tell you like color.

And I noticed these right here are very colorful.

How'd you get that many milk cartons?

I went to the local dairy. I said I wanted to buy 200.

And so then I cut them in half, drilled holes in the lids,

and drove landscape staples down.

Okay. And so the lightbulb's in there,

and that way they stand upright. Looks awesome.

I mean, it's a really cool effect. Yes.

And it's sturdy and it's weatherproof.

We call it Liliana's Way... Aww.

...so she always knows the way to Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Is that one of your favorite things?

[ Babbles ] "Love it."

You love it.

Oh, I love you. Woman: Speaking of Lili's Way,

it's time for us to be on our way.

Can you blow a kiss? Mwah.

See you later. Aww. Thank you.

[ Chuckles ]

Bye. Can we walk a little?

'Cause I want to talk about these dandelions.

Because they are fun, and I don't think

I've ever seen anything like this before.

Is that water bottles? Keith: Yes.

Each one has over 90 water bottles in them.

Cut the ends off. Then I sliced them.

I designed a bracket. It goes inside... Yeah.

...and then I put a light socket on top of it,

so I pop-rivet the cap in and screwed --

And then you screwed them back in.

Yep. That's awesome.

I just like the fact also

that you have it on this PVC pipe

where it's specifically moving in the wind. Yes, yes.

And I can tell that's by design

because you have this larger one

and then the smaller one in it

so it is allowing it to move and bend,

which is very cool. Gives it movement, and it gives it enough stability

that it controls the movement. Yes.

'Cause if I just drove the PVC pipe in --

It'd be all over the place. Exactly.

Right. So smart.

You know, I noticed that you have this wreath

and now I'm noticing a theme with you guys.

There's a lot of DIY and a lot of recyclables.

Tell me how you made this.

Well, it's kind of the same concept as the dandelions.

I cut the bottom off green soda bottles... Okay.

...spliced them up, moved them to a metal frame inside.

Oh. Where'd you get a metal frame like that?

Well, I taught metalworking for a lot of years, so...

Ah, well, that comes in handy, doesn't it?

Shop teacher. Yeah.

And how big is it? Four foot.

Four foot? It takes two people to get it up there.

Never seen a wreath made out of recycled soda bottles.

It's kind of who we are. Yeah?

We like to invent things. If Barb sees something,

she says, "Can you do that?" And I said, "I think so."

Yeah. It might take a year or two,

and I finally come up with it. Figure it out.

Come on. We got more to see. We only just started.

[ Chuckles ]

The whole yard is covered. Covered.

Hey, this is more recycled.

Ah, good. What is this?

We volunteer at a food pantry,

and they're taking all of their TV antennas down.

And I walk by and I said,

"What are you going to do with those?"

Did you know right away when you saw it...

Yes. Oh, yeah. ...what you wanted to do with it?

It just -- I said, "Oh, this is going to be awesome."

Oh, yeah. First thing to do --

had to figure out how to put it in the ground. Okay.

I went to a welder and I said,

"I want a piece that's this wide

and comes down and it forks out."

And he made me three of them, and I set them in.

And then I put concrete in so it stays there.

So this thing ain't going nowhere. No.

This is awesome.

This is so beautiful,

and it has such presence in your display.

Keith: This is one of our first sets

that we bought after we got married. Oh, wow. Nice.

And so we've had it for probably close to 40 years

or maybe a little bit more.

Incredible. They've held up well.

The stable -- recycled wood. Yep.

We had a bad storm here two years ago,

and it blew our gazebo down.

So I took the pieces of the wood.

Turned it into a crèche.

Okay, and it looks great. And you know what?

It wouldn't feel right if it wasn't a little patinaed

and a little aged, so that's great. Little rustic.

It's amazing.

The Kittell family's display was filled with ingenuity, love,

DIY, so many fun elements.

Somehow, Keith found a way to incorporate milk cartons,

recycled bottles, and a recycled broadcasting antenna.

That's ingenuity.

What a tour.

You guys put a lot of work, a lot of heart,

a lot of soul into your display, and I can feel it.

Barb comes up with some fun idea,

and you will figure it out.

DIY is meaningful to me.

It's my happy place when I design these things

and I build them and stuff.

And when you do something like this out in the open,

you're sharing. Yes.

But it's nice to have someone come in

and really look at it and say, "Wow."

Well, I had so much fun. Thank you both.

Keith and Barb's display was filled with so much love.

Can I get a big hug before I go? You can.

But I've seen four incredible displays,

but only one can be the champion

of "The Great Christmas Light Fight"

and take home $50,000 and the trophy.

Thank you. Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas.

Both: Bye. Bye!

Barb: Whoo. Merry and bright!

Keith: That was fun. That was fun.

Let's do it again.

Narrator: Want to throw your Santa hat in the ring

for another season?

Apply now at abc.com/casting.

♪♪

♪♪

[ Snaps fingers ]

[ Engine starts ]

[ Ting! ]

This competition has brought Christmas magic to life.

All: Three, two, one!

[ Cheers and applause ]

Taniya: The Laakso family from Titusville, Florida,

decked the halls and walls

with an elegant postcard-perfect display.

Patricia: We were married in this gazebo. Jeremy: Yes.

You were? Yes, we were.

Taniya: Their 20-foot-tall, 15,000-pixel curtain of lights

took Christmas to new heights.

Your name in lights. Whoo!

And you spelled it right, too. I'm impressed. Yes, we did.

[ Laughs ]

All: Let there be light! [ Cheers and applause ]

The McCarty-Williams family from Pitman, New Jersey,

created a vintage animatronic wonderland

like the most festive department store windows I've ever seen.

The actual cat is all zip ties. What?

And that one-of-a-kind blow-mold tree

absolutely blew me away.

It's just a little glimpse of the inside of my brain.

Yes. [ Laughs ]

All: Three, two, one!

Taniya: Whoa!

The Hetherington family from Crawford, Texas,

lifted my Christmas spirit

with a geometric light show that was totally unique.

All of this stuff is just out of his head, his imagination.

It was like Santa took a paintbrush of lights to the lawn

and left his mark with every stroke.

This is beautiful.

All: Three, two, one!

The Kittell family from Chester, Illinois,

bottled up their love of Christmas

and recycled it to shine bright throughout their yard.

It's kind of who we are. We like to invent things.

Taniya: Their innovative DIY reusing plastic bottles and jugs

proved that one person's trash

can be turned into a holiday treasure.

Okay! You love it!

Santa, that's it right up there.

And now one very deserving display

is about to get a new piece for their collection.

♪♪

Okay, hit it, Santa.

[ Horn plays "Jingle Bells" ]

Thank you. Merry Christmas.

♪♪

Hi, Mike. Holy jingle bells.

[ Laughs ] Hi, Mike. How are you?

Hello, Taniya. How are you? I'm good.

Would you go get Lyle and meet me outside?

Oh, my gosh, Lyle. You got to see this.

Oh, my gosh. This is crazy.

Wow. Hey!

I almost didn't recognize you two without your costumes on.

Oh, my gosh, we didn't recognize you dry.

We had some rain.

We did. Oh, my gosh, it was a monsoon.

Well, your restored vintage display

could restore even Scrooge's love for Christmas.

And that is why you're the champion

of "The Great Christmas Light Fight"!

And the $50,000 is yours.

Yeah! Yeah!

That's amazing.

Oh, my gosh, this is incredible.

In a million years, we never thought

we would be able to put on something this big

to the point that we would be at the level to win this.

I mean, the things that I saw in this display blew my mind.

You took elements that I've seen in other displays,

like blow molds, but you used them in a way

that was so unique and creative and different.

I loved your animatronics and how you displayed them.

The Christmas-tree tree house --

another something I've never seen before.

I was obsessed.

When we went into the bake shop,

it was unique, it was different.

I mean, there is no question

that you pulled out all the stops,

and the level of artistry that you put into this is next-level.

I just -- It's just nice to finally have a platform

that I can show off my talents.

Like, there's lots of shows out there

where you can go onstage and show a talent

in like a minute or two minutes.

My talent's something you literally need

to take time to paint it, put it together, build it.

And this show gave us the opportunity

to be able to show that off.

Oh, my gosh. Actual little teardrops.

Oh, my gosh, thank you. Aww! That means so much.

It means so much that you're able to show off your talent.

Thank you. Thank you.

I know your yard is packed,

but do you think you'd have room for one more thing?

Oh, there's always room for more.

Yeah. Alright, I'll be right back.

Got a little something-something for you.

Yay!

Yes! Both: Yeah!

Here you go. Congratulations.

Yeah! Yes!

"The Great Christmas Light Fight" is the validation

that, like, all of this time, work, energy

that we put into this was all worth it.

We started out with, you know, a little display,

and it's grown into this grand spectacular

that everyone can enjoy.

This is awesome.

I think we should do Halloween.

[ Laughs ]

No, we're not doing Halloween.

Before I go, I would love to go back to the bakery.

Well, I heard Mrs. Claus is making some cookies.

Is that what I'm smelling?

Oh, my gosh, let's go check it out. Let's go.

Ah! So excited.

Let's get in there. I smell cookies.

I do too.

Smells so good in here.

Hey, Taniya, how about a new cake topper for us up here? Yes!

Take it off. Oh, my gosh, it'll be the perfect spot.

Perfect.

Let's look at this.

Yeah!

Both: Whoo! Yeah!

This is amazing, and I can't think of a better spot.

Yes! Oh, yeah!

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪