Christmas Light-Hanging Ideas for the Holidays

Winter is simply blowing by. Turkey day is in the past and Christmas is fast approaching. While everyone has a favorite part about this time of year, many families associate the cheer and good spirits with the iconic Christmas decorations we’ve all grown to know and love. And what would Christmas decorations be without lights? Whether you’re covering your house, the tree in the living room, or just hanging strings of lights on shelves and hallways, it’s hard to imagine a festive time without this classic decoration.

Today it’s possible to get creative as ever. X-mas lights come in a plethora of different bulb sizes, colors, wattage, and length. It’s important to remember though that you put as much thought and care into actually hanging the lights themselves as you do picking out the various styles.

Here are some helpful tips towards making this the best and brightest holiday season yet.

Lights for the Exterior

When it comes to getting your house spruced up this Christmas, nothing bad can come from making sure the neighborhood knows you’re in the proper holiday spirits. In order not to pull a Chevy Chase and embarrass yourself in front of family and friends make sure you have the proper help and equipment.

First things first, it’s always a good idea to hang your outdoor lights early on in December. It’s generally safer to climb ladders and hang lights in mild, non-inclement weather. If things have already gotten frosty in your area, just make sure you’ve got a helping hand or two, just so things go more safely and smoothly.

Once you’ve got some help and an idea of where on the house you want to start hanging lights, make sure you’ve got the appropriate tools. This includes a ladder of appropriate height (we’re not talking stepladder here!), some measuring tape, plastic clips for hanging on gutters or the roof, extension cords, and of course the lights. After measuring the length and height of the parts of the house you want to hang your lights on, make sure you have enough strings of lights to accommodate your vision; then go ahead and test them just to make sure all the bulbs are properly working—even if they’re brand new. The last thing you want is to hang several strings of lights around your home only to find half of them don’t work.

Now depending on your homes’ gutters, eaves, or roof, there are a variety of different plastic clips that can be used to hang lights. You want to find some that can easily be implemented and then taken off with little to no damage to your home. It’s especially important not to use metal nails to hang your lights. Not only can they hurt your house, they can also pose an electrical hazard.

A nifty pro-tip is to start near an outlet. Or at least be aware of the placement of all your outlets around your home, just so you don’t run out of lights a good distance away from where you need to plug them in.

Oh, Christmas Tree!

This may seem to go without saying, but if you want a really easy time decorating the tree, make sure to forgo the various balls, baubles, stars, and angels until you’ve wrapped that pine up in lights. Also, just as when hanging lights on the outside of the house, test your decorations out before you start to string them around your tree.

Now, there are a lot of different strategies when it comes to covering your tree in pretty, pretty Christmas lights. The most important rules to remember are the safety ones. Make sure you keep your tree hydrated; a well-watered tree is much less likely to pose a fire risk. As for how many lights to use, in the end it’s up to personal discretion. A common notion is to have about 100 lights for every foot or two of tree.

However, depending on the size of your lights and thickness of the needles and branches on your tree, you can always use more or less. If you step back so you can see your whole tree and un-focus your eyes a bit, you’ll get a blurry image of your lighted pine, and you can more easily spot the areas lacking in lighting.

A Winter Wonder (Home) Land

If you’re in a really festive mood this season, you won’t stop at just decorating the outside of the house and your Christmas tree. There are plenty of other areas you can decorate around the house that will ensure your friends and family are never missing that holiday spirit.

Ho-Ho-Hallway and Beyond

Take that foyer or entrance hallway and makes sure everyone gets exactly how big of a Christmas fan you are. It’s a snap to run a couple of strings of lights along the edge of the hallway on the floor. Add a bright red runner and some plastic candy canes along the wall next to the lights for additional holiday effect. If the candy canes have a hollow body, you can fix them so that some of your bulbs go inside the cane to create some neat illumination.

It takes merely a string or two of Christmas lights to frame a bathroom mirror. Add a holiday-themed scented candle and keep the regular lights off to add just right amount of Yuletide accent in your restroom. This works great for a party or a family get-together.

Stringing lights around and over your bookshelves is going to feel like a breeze after you’ve decorated your tree. Go ahead and use any extra lights to illuminate your shelves and books. You can even take extra tree decorations and hang them on the strings of lights for extra holiday flair. Who knows? While your festooning tour shelves, maybe you’ll discover an old favorite book. When was the last time you read “A Christmas Carol”?

In less than a weekend you can turn your home from a dreary safe-haven from the weather into a cozy and festive party place that will always appear inviting.

Learn More:

• 8 Must-Try Holiday Cocktail Recipes
• 13 Gifts for Your Favorite Coffee Drinker
• Christmas Gifts Ideas for Your Loved Ones
• 10 Appliances That Make Holiday Entertaining Easier