I love icicle lights. People do use them around here, but I haven't seen any yet this year.
My neighbor just put out his net lights on the hedges in front of his house - they look very nice, and he tells me they didn't take long at all to do. (A good thing when you're in the middle of a cold snap

)
If you think one or two houses on your block go nuts on the Christmas decorations - there's an entire street near my in-laws' house that goes totally overboard. If these guys didn't exist, the local power company would be broke. We're talking lighted nativity scenes, animated deer and moose, toy soldiers, Santa and reindeer strung from the roof to a tree, customized lighted signs, you name it. People come from miles around to see it.
I put a few lights in my windows and I'm done