If there’s one thing that personifies the holiday season for everyone, it has to be outside Christmas lights. Sure, many people will argue that the Christmas tree is the epitome of the holiday season. However, when you consider the fact that Christmas trees are more of a private affair, perhaps only being seen by people if you happen to have it lit up with Christmas lights in your front window and you happen to live on a fairly heavily trafficked street, you begin to understand why outside Christmas lights play such a significant role in the setting of the holiday spirit. Not only are Christmas lights magical for young and old alike, but when they are placed outside the home, whether it be window lights, holiday lights strung through trees, bushes or along roof-lines and rooftops, or outlining holiday lawn decorations, it is all part of the greater holiday spirit of giving and sharing with one another as it helps ring in the holiday spirit.
Outside Christmas Lights Are a Great Tradition
The thing about putting up holiday lights outside is that the more people that participate in any given area or neighborhood, the stronger the holiday spirit grows. In fact, I have always found it to be fun to tell young children that the more lights that are put up, the more likely Santa Claus is to find that neighborhood safely. It helps them appreciate the effort that goes into putting up your holiday lights, regardless of the weather outside. This is important because it can be quite a bit trickier to put up outside Christmas lights than it is to simply place some inflatable Xmas lawn decorations or other Christmas decorations in front of your home.
Speaking of installing outside lights, doing so is not something you should take lightly. Of course winter is often a time of harsh weather, so you want to make sure your lights are not only securely placed, but also that they are appropriate lights for decorating outside. You see, not all Christmas lights are made the same. Some are specifically made for the outdoor environment and are more weatherproof than your typical indoor Christmas lights you would typically string about your indoor Christmas tree. The last thing you want to do is to cut corners to save a few bucks and hang the wrong kind of lights outside. Doing so could not only ruin the festive atmosphere you are going after by having all your lights suddenly go out, but it could actually lead to problems such as electrical shorts and even potentially shocks and/or fires. So again, make absolutely sure that the holiday lights you use for the outside of your home are designed for outdoor use. We don’t want to be electrocuting Santa now do we?
Safety must always come first when dealing with the installation of outside Christmas lights
When it comes to actually securing your lights, there is one common mistake that many people make. That mistake is using a staple gun to secure the lights to the home, tree or whatever surface you are wanting to light up. The problem with using a staple gun is that the staples are metal, and you don’t have much control over how forcefully the staples get embedded. This can potentially lead to a severing of the rubber insulation surrounding the electrical wires. As mentioned in the previous paragraph, this is clearly a potential hazard on many fronts. If you want to use a staple gun, you will be much better advised to staple hooks, wire ties or zip ties (or some such fastening device), and then secure your Christmas lights to those devices.
Another safety point to keep in mind, particularly because outdoor lights are often hung from high places, is to make sure you not only have a good, stable ladder to use, but also that you have someone spotting you. There is no reason to go into the holiday season injured because you fell from a ladder while hanging Christmas lights! Plus, if you were to fall at the beginning of your project, you might never get all the lights up and therefore your home won’t be able to contribute to the magic of your local Christmas lights Festival. Like I’m sure you heard your mother tell you many times as a child… it’s always better to be safe than sorry!
The wonderful thing about today’s outside Christmas lights is that they come in a wide variety of colors, sizes and even shapes. You have your standard in-line white Christmas lights or multi-colored Christmas lights, as well as everything from blue to green to pink, and probably just about any other color you can imagine. You can also get lights that come as hanging strings off a main, center line, creating icicle Christmas lights. There are also Christmas light nets that make it much easier to light up a bush or small tree.
Also, today’s LED Christmas lights will last you many, many years to come while consuming a small fraction of the electricity that normal Christmas lights use. This is a great thing to keep in mind as we all try to have a more “green” Christmas and world in general. In fact, by purchasing LED Christmas lights, you can consider it your Christmas gift to the global environment. I’m sure Santa Claus and his reindeer will appreciate the fact that you are doing your part to minimize the effects of global warming. After all, they need their snow!
So whatever your personal choice is for lighting up your home this holiday season, just take a few moments to make sure you get the right lights, that you secure them safely, and that you are careful when, how and where you go about hanging them. Other than that, all we have to say is we wish you the best and happiest of holiday wishes and hope you and your loved ones and neighbors all fully enjoy this year’s outside Christmas lights!