15 of the Best Christmas Lights Displays in the Rockford Area

If you're going to celebrate the Christmas season, you might as well do it up big.

I can't even begin to imagine the amount of time and planning some of these extravagant lights displays took to put together.

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Some must have taken hours if not days to do it all correctly. Because it seems there are more ways to make a poor-looking Christmas display than there are to make a good one.

Lucky for these 15 they have a chance to win $500 from the Illinois Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 364.

These people took the time, hung the lights, arranged it all properly, and most importantly, sent in a pic of their handiwork HERE.

Thinking about doing the same but not sure where to start? ABC News has a few "secrets" for anyone considering what could be a massive undertaking.

ABC News:

• Start early - It might be a little late for that, but if you get going now you might be able to get it done.
• Start small - Bigger isn't always better. Like ABC News "Start with a few lights."
• Get inspired - There's nothing worse than just going through the motions, and that includes decorating for the holidays.
• Bring in professionals - If you don't have time to decorate yourself, bring someone else in to do it for you.
• Learn by doing - The previous recommendation too costly? The best thing you can do is just do it yourself, and work your way up to something huge like some of these pics below.