We don't do outdoor lights, just a wreath on the front door. Inside we do a Christmas forest sort of thing on top of the piano, stockings, sometimes lights and a few other things. With cats there is no tree indoors as it would be, and had been, an utter disaster. When we had our young ward living with us and where it would be unacceptable not to have a tree, we painted one on the wall and put presents on the floor in front of it. It was a hoot. To "take down the tree," it just had to be painted over.
My wife does all the decorating.
I checked "First Week in December" though it's usually a day or two after Thanksgiving but close enough.