Also, don't worry about "getting it right" the first time. If you are decorating your first Christmas tree, plan on at least 2-5 times as much in the way of ornaments and lights as you think you are going to need, and it will probably still be wimpy. Start with a small area, perhaps a corner of the room or a doorway, and see what you need to properly decorate that. You are not going to master it in one try, so if it seems tacky or wimpy, live with it and learn from it. The important thing is that you did something.
The important thing is to learn. You see something that looked skimpy this year, try adding something to it for next time. You only have one or 2 strands of lights for your tree and it looks wimpy, next time try buying more. You don't like the looks of something because things are not appropriately displayed or because stickers keep falling offf, find out what the problem is and work on improving. There is no shame that you at least tried, even if something doesn't look right. Keep on trying, keep on working on it. Soon you will become good enough to display a proper Christmas scene of your choosing.
Themes? If you are still worried about Brother Hounder, keep it simple. Your front windows will probably be dark, and there will be nothing in the front yard. However, you can still display a Christmas tree in the rear or interior of the house. You will probably have to make do with fewer lights than you wanted, but that can be a learning experience about how many lights it takes to really do a better job if conditions improve. You might start with something simple. Snowflakes, icicles, pine cones, and generic red bulbs look nice. You could try poinsettias, holly, or whatever looks like nature. Later, you could move onto Santa stuff, bells, sleigh, reindeer, or if you are so inclined, crosses, statues of Astaroth (yup, that is what most of those "angels" are actually replicating, not angels), and whatever you see fit.
I personally have the whole place decorated. The hallway gets decked to the max for Halloween, Christmas, and Easter. My apartment gets decorated and left that way the whole summer--including lights on the window that emulate a tree. Including a Christmas tree that is visible from the highway behind my apartment, with a LED star that changes color. Now including icicle lights that have twinkling lights, that can be seen from that highway. Hey, if Brother Hounder wishes to drive into a tree, let him try worrying about my decorations. As I see it, it is good for the soul. They don't like it, I don't like having my soul damned by the austerity imposed by the witlesses.
