Give the exterior of your home a magical look this holiday season with Christmas lights. To create a magnificent and festive light display safely, follow these seven tips on how to properly hang your holiday lights:
Plan Your Design. Decide which parts of your home you want to decorate with strings of lights. This will help you to decide the types of lights, tools and hanging devices you’ll need to create your light display. Also, make sure you use a stepladder or extension ladder to hang lights that are too high to reach by hand.
Check Lights. Plug lights into a heavy-duty extension cord to make sure they work properly and that there aren’t any frayed or broken wires. Also, if you’re hanging lights outside, make sure your extension cords and any string of lights are approved for outdoor use, which should be stated on the package they came in.
Locate Outlets. Know where the outlets are closest to where you want to hang your lights. Ideally, it would be best to use a switch-controlled outlet, or you could plug the lights into either an outside or inside automatic timer, depending where you’re going to hang your holiday lights.
Measure. Use an extra long measuring tape to measure the areas of your home you want to hang lights on to ensure you get enough string of lights for the job. For example, if you want to wrap lights around an outside bush, make sure to measure the height and length of it, then figure out how many 25-foot light strings will be needed for these measurements.
Hardware to Use for Hanging Lights. Use heavy-duty plastic clips to hang strings of lights along your roof and gutters. Use nail-on plastic clips or tube light clips spaced about 12-inches apart to hang string of lights on windowsills and around archways. Never use nails, any type of staples or tacks to hang your lights because it could pierce the cord or wear out the insulation, which could cause an electrical short.
Attaching Lights to Trees. Try using a light-hanging pole to attach lights to extra tall trees. This type of tool is easy-to-use, and it’s a great alternative if you don’t feel comfortable using a ladder to hang your holiday lights.
Hanging Lights on Railings and Patios. You can use plastic zip ties to attach strings of lights to any railings or around your balcony. Zip ties can be used for hanging your lights either inside or outside because they’re weather-resistant. They can also be easily adjusted and removed.
Follow these tips on hanging Christmas lights, and soon you’ll have a magical light display that looks professional and will wow everyone who drives by or comes to visit your home during the holidays.
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