10 Tips For Hanging Christmas Lights

how to hang christmas lights on house

Many of our clients want to know how to hang Christmas lights on vinyl siding. Simply slide the clips under the vinyl siding, and you’re ready to decorate. The stainless-steel clips are easy to reposition, and they won’t rust or stain your vinyl siding. Once the holidays are over, removal is easy and damage-free. If you want to know how to hang Christmas lights without gutters, or with gutters, or under asphalt shingles, a great solution is the universal light clip. These inexpensive plastic clips are touted as being freeze-proof, wind-proof, and specifically designed to hang Christmas lights without damaging surfaces.

The Ultimate Guide to Hanging Holiday Lights

With the Eversprout extension pole, you can hang lights up to 25 feet high while standing safely on the ground. Take a photograph of your house, or stand in the street, to evaluate which elements would benefit most from lighting. Consider accentuating your home’s unique architectural features by stringing lights along eaves, pillars, posts, windows, and doors. Also decide which bushes, trees, lamp posts, window boxes, and planters you might illuminate to add to your overall display. Finally, think about appropriate lighting for paths and stand-alone figures. If you're hanging light strands from your gutter or roof, ask a helper to supervise as a safety precaution.

Expert tips for better Christmas light safety - Reviewed

Expert tips for better Christmas light safety.

Posted: Fri, 22 Sep 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

Vermont 100 Clear Mini Christmas String Lights

You can choose clear, white, or colored lights that stay lit, blink, or chase. The right style for your home will depend upon the look you want to create, your budget, and your energy-usage goals, so be sure to take your time when shopping. C9 Christmas lights– C9’s are the largest of the “C” incandescent bulbs. They burn hotter and use more energy than the smaller options. "Power stakes bring power closer to where you need it, so you don't have to run cords all over your yard," says Tamara Wrisley of We Hang Christmas Lights.

Think Beyond the Roofline

how to hang christmas lights on house

Before you hang light strings, check they are in good condition and plug them in to ensure they work. Knowing where the closest power outlets are will save you a lot of time and frustration when hanging your lights. So before you do anything else, take a walk around your house (inside and out) and make a note of all the outlets you find. Once you have a good idea of where they’re located, you can start planning how to best arrange your lights.

Plug in Timers

Our step-by-step guide to DIY Christmas light hanging can help you develop a custom design that will work for every holiday season. To make sure you don't waste it with several trips to the hardware store, make a plan for your outdoor Christmas decorations first. Begin by taking a look at your home from the sidewalk or street and figuring out where you want to position your lights. Do you want to highlight architectural features like eaves, windows, and doors?

Make a Hook for Putting Holiday Lights on Tall Trees

Make sure that you know where your outdoor outlets are, and if you'll need to use extension cords to reach them. The extension cords to connect all the lights together are just general outdoor-rated extension cords. Installed along the edges of a driveway or walkway, the bright, colorful lights create a warm welcome. To add drama, try spotlights to highlight trees, stone walls, fences, hedges, and other large, broad surfaces. Both styles have stakes to secure them into the ground, but spotlights are adjustable, pivoting up and down and rotating sideways, so you can shine light exactly where you want.

Step back to check for balance

The 10 Best Christmas Net Lights in 2024 - Outdoor Christmas Lights - Popular Mechanics

The 10 Best Christmas Net Lights in 2024 - Outdoor Christmas Lights.

Posted: Fri, 08 Dec 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]

Make the hook with part of a coat hanger or other heavy-gauge wire. Embed it in the threads on the pole, bend it into shape and secure it with duct tape to keep it from sliding down the pole. Every item on this page was chosen by a The Pioneer Woman editor.

Measure

Bulbs come in a variety of sizes, from mini fairy lights, to strawberry-shaped bulbs, to even larger colored spotlights. When choosing between LED and incandescent bulbs, it’s important to weigh the pros and cons, including potential costs to your safety, your wallet, and the environment. If you think it might be time to switch from incandescent to LED lights, this article by The Spruce can help you make an informed decision. 'Use an entire wall as a canvas for long strings of simple, white holiday lights,' says Kelly. 'A geometric pattern with repetition brightens the mood while creating visual interest. The Christmas lighting idea of the largest scale is hanging Christmas lights on a house.

Christmas light hanging clips make the job much easier (and safer). This might seem obvious, but please do not attach the clips to your string lights when you're up on the ladder. We recommend spacing them out no more than a foot apart for crisp lines.

To keep your outdoor holiday lights from tangling and make putting them up easier, roll about 30 strings onto a portable hose reel with wheels and a handle. Pull the lights around your yard and roll off as many as you need. Before you plug them in, visually inspect the light strings, looking for broken or missing bulbs and worn or defective wiring. If you discover faulty wires, replace the string entirely as this could present a fire or electrical hazard. Many different types of decorative lights are available, from conventional mini-lights and icicle lights to mesh-style light strings made for wrapping tree trunks.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recommends not using more than three standard-length strings of lights per extension cord. (Check out the CPSC's brochure for more holiday safety tips.) As you are planning your lighting, ensure cords are kept away from snow and water and aren't tripping hazards, either. You'll be surprised how much easier the process is with an extra set of hands, and it's ideal to have a spotter while you're on the ladder ($100, The Home Depot). If ladders give you the willies, use a light-hanging pole for hard-to-reach places, like awkward eaves, roof peaks, or upper tree branches.

"Rope lights are ideal for outlining doorways, windows, and walkways or creating intricate shapes and designs, while icicles are whimsy and large bulbs create a retro, visual impact." Are you pleased with how this year’s holiday light display turned out? To make that a little easier, just snap a picture of this year’s holiday light display as a guide for replicating it. After you unpack the lights (and before you hang them up), plug them in to see if the strand works.

Try to start early enough so you don’t run out of daylight, and choose a day with mild weather. Nobody wants to damage the exterior of their home while decorating for the holidays. Here are some tried-and-true methods for safely hanging lights on different surfaces. Whenever you do decide to hang up those twinkling string lights, ensure you're doing so in a way that's as safe as possible. Read below for our guide on how to hang your outdoor Christmas lights with ease. Once you have the basics down, it’s time to start getting creative with your display.

Are you going to wind lights through trees and bushes, or around objects such as fences, mailbox posts, and railings? Your creativity, planning and hard work deserve a celebration! If you’re craving a social connection, consider an outdoor block-lighting ceremony with your neighbors where you all flip the switch at the same time for the big reveal. Or perhaps submit your address as part of a community holiday lights tour. Install lights on trees from the top down, nestling the cords close to the trunk to keep them hidden.

But if you’ve never done it before, it can seem like a daunting task. If this is your first time decorating the exterior of your home for the holidays, keep it simple. You can always add to your light collection each year, filling it in with more rows, outlining architectural features, or wrapping lights around trees and branches. But, by starting small, you'll be able to get a feel for what works and what doesn't. Get ready to be the prettiest home on the block this Christmas.

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