How to Hang Christmas Lights, Indoors and Outdoors

Whether you spend the holidays watching Christmas movies, making DIY ornaments to trim your tree, or planning out all the funny Elf on the Shelf ideas for the kids, December is a time of cherished Christmas traditions.

But there’s one annual Christmas activity that tends to be a bit less enjoyable than the rest: hanging all those Christmas light displays. While they always turn out beautiful in the end, stringing those glittering, gleaming stands of bulbs over your roof and trees can be difficult and dangerous work. Who among us hasn’t thrown their hands up in defeat, swearing to the heavens that we’ll never attempt this craziness again? But still, we always go back for more once that Christmas spirit hits, and we want to make our homes look merry and bright.

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To help ease the frustration and keep everyone safe, we’ve come up some tips for how to hang Christmas lights like an expert. With a few simple steps and the proper equipment, your tree and property will be looking holly and jolly in no time! Some of the instructions might seem obvious (please don’t use a stapler to attach electrical wires to your house), while other tricks aren’t as widely known (like the formula to figure out how many feet of lights you’ll need). Whether you’re opting for a minimalistic look or going full-on Clark Griswold from Christmas Vacation, here are the best ways to hang Christmas lights this winter.

Make a Plan for Your Christmas Lights

Time is at a premium during the holidays. 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? Are you going to wind lights through trees and bushes, or around objects such as fences, mailbox posts, and railings? Keep in mind that you can always cut yourself a break and buy net lights, which form a mesh-like blanket that’s easy to drape over your shrubs, or icicle lights that are pre-strung like a curtain.

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You’re also going to need to measure the distances along the spots where you’re planning to string your lights, so you can get a sense of how many strands you’ll need. Plan on using a 50-foot tape measure and if you need to climb a ladder, make sure it’s sturdy and on level ground. (Because aluminum can conduct electricity, it’s best to have a fiberglass or wood ladder on hand for when you’re actually hanging the lights.)

How to Choose Christmas Lights

After you know where you’re going to hang your Christmas lights, you’re going to have to decide which type you want to use. While it can seem that there are as many kinds of lights as there are toys in Santa’s sleigh, the biggest question may come down to whether or not you want incandescent or LED lights. LED are more expensive to buy up front but last longer because they only use ten percent of the energy of an incandescent. They also stay cool to the touch, making them a safer choice. However, incandescent lights offer a warm yellow glow that their competition can’t match.

There are also various bulb shapes and sizes. They include clear, patterned and frosted; mini lights, more recently in fashion; the G-series of bulbs, which are round, and the traditional, cone-shaped C-7 and C-9 bulbs. The Cs are bigger bulbs and work especially well outside, around trees or along rooflines. No matter what type of lights you choose to help bring joy to the world, just remember to make sure they’re rated for outdoor use. It’ll help ensure they safely keep going strong all season long!

As for how many lights you’ll actually need to decorate, according to Home Depot, you’ll want to start with a minimum of 60 feet of string lights to cover the eaves (edges) of your house and add an additional 10 to 12 feet per awning. For trees either inside or out, you’ll want about 100 lights per foot of tree. So if you have a six-foot tree for example, start with 600 lights. Just be sure the tree you’re decorating doesn’t come in contact with power lines.

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If you need to figure out how many feet of lights you’ll need for spiraling up column, according to the Bob Villa website, all you need to do is divide the column’s height in inches by how far apart you’re going to space the lights you twist around it. (About three inches usually works well.) Multiply that total by the column’s circumference in feet and you’ll have your answer. Or, if math isn’t your strong suit, just wrap a string up the column and then lay it flat to measure.

Before you head out to the store, make a list of the other things you’ll need if you plan on heading outside to hang:

• Lighting Timers
• Outdoor Extension Cords
• Plastic Light Clips
• Plastic Zip Ties
• Electrical Tape

How to Hang Christmas Lights on Your House

1. Once you’ve assembled everything you need to transform your property into a winter wonderland, pick a nice day (with no precipitation or wind!) to complete your project. Get started early, so you have plenty of time to work before it begins get dark.
2. Lay out your strands of lights individually in your home or garage and plug each of them in to check for dead bulbs. Even brand-new lights can be faulty.
3. If you’re lighting the roofline of your house, begin at the eave and fasten the strand to the corner. Rather than staples or nails, use plastic clips, which are made specifically to attach lights to gutters or shingles. Because they grip the socket rather than the strand, they allow you to position the bulbs in any direction you choose.
4. Working your way along the roof’s edge, continue to attach the lights with clips every 6 to 12 inches, keeping the strand taut.
5. Use plastic zip ties to attach lights to rooflines for extra security if you live in an area with particularly intense winter weather, like high winds or heavy snow. Zip ties can also be used to secure lights to railings.
6. While light strands are made to be connected, for safety’s sake don’t plug more than three together. Also avoid plugging strands of different lengths into each other.
7. Never use indoor extension cords outdoors. When plugging outdoor cords together, wrap the connecting parts in electrical or duct tape to help keep water out, and also wrap the ends not in use. Also, make sure extension cords running over porches or walkways are taped down to eliminate tripping hazards.
8. Lighting timers allow you to set when your lights come on and turn off each evening. Then all you have to do is sit back and enjoy the display!

How to Hang Christmas Lights on Your Tree

When you put lights on a Christmas tree, there are two different methods: horizontal and vertical. The horizontal method works well for small and indoor trees, since you have to walk around the perimeter as you go. The vertical method, while less secure than horizontal, is easier with outdoor Christmas tree lights because you do one section at a time and removing them at the end of the season is much faster. These methods can be used on both natural and artificial trees. But before you begin either, make sure you have the right Christmas tree lights; string lights are best.

Hang your lights horizontally

1. Start at the bottom of the tree, so the plug is closer to the outlet or extension cord. Wrap the lights loosely over and under the bottom row of branches to provide security and a more natural look. If you want to provide more depth, you can change how deep you place the lights inside the branches.
2. Continue moving up the tree with the same over/under technique. If you want to track how you’re doing, simply plug them in to see how they look before continuing up.
3. As you run out of lights and need to connect another string, you can hide the connection behind a larger branch or the trunk and secure it with a plastic zip tie or floral wire. While you can use indoor or outdoor extension cords for indoor trees, make sure to only use outdoor extension cords for outdoor trees.

Hang your lights vertically

1. Divide the tree roughly into three sections (yes, vertically).
2. Starting at the bottom, weave the lights in and out around the branches. You can go left to right or right to left―whatever feels more comfortable to you.
3. Once you reach the top, weave back down until you are done with that section. Similar to the horizontal method, you can hide and secure the connected plugs with a plastic zip tie or floral wire, and make sure you are using the appropriate type of extension cord for indoor and outdoor trees.
4. Continue the same method for the other two sections until you have a completely lit up tree.

And no matter which method you decide to use, a lighting timer is a great idea so the tree lights up and goes dark without you having to worry about it every day. Just set it and forget it!

Source: https://gardencourte.com
Categories: Outdoor