TIPS FOR HANGING THOSE HIGH CHRISTMAS LIGHTS
Tis the season to be jolly, safe, and smart
I am one of those neighbors who steals all the power in the lines to keep our house aglow during the holiday season. I love lots of lights and turning an ordinary home into a gingerbread-like wonderland. When I was young, my dad always lit up the entire house. I remember helping him take strand after strand after strand out of the shed and lay them out on the driveway to change out any burnt light bulbs. He always used color lights and those large bulbs, not the ones we all use today, the energy sucking beautiful bulbs. He would climb the roof each year and staple gun the strands to every frame of the house. He made sure the outline of the home was always lit. It was so beautiful to see as a child.
I think this is partly the reason I love to do the same to my home, a guilty pleasure for me and to show my kids the beauty of the holidays (outside of the real meaning). When we bought our current home, I would climb the steep, scary roof lines to get the icicle lights draped perfectly to the roof line. I hate heights, but did it for myself and my family. Each year Karl would yell at me, neighbors would stare and laugh, and I was probably harming the wooden singles.
TIP 1:
So a few years back I had a painting company (they have tall ladders) come and place eye hooks all along the roof line. Those eye hooks that have the plastic covering so they don’t rust or damage. It was the best thing I did. Now each year I use a long pole to hook the strand of lights on from the ground, or a small ladder not high up. Same way to take them down. Plus the hooks match the white outline of the home.
TIP 2:
Hang the lights on warm days. We have plenty of them in November! It will save you time, energy, and get’s you ahead of the game. We never turn out lights on until Thanksgiving night, but they are there waiting and ready. You can then enjoy a hot beverage or cold one, standing at the window watching your neighbors trying to catch up in December in the freezing cold.
TIP 3:
At the end of the season, head to the home improvement stores and stock up on next years fun. I always get great deals on fun things like large reindeer that light up for the lawn, or large snowflakes, or LED lights. Always best to add to your passion when things are more than half off. I wanted to convert over to LED this year, so I stocked up when they were on sale at the end of last season. You want the “warm white” not the “cool white” the cool white give a blue glow. Warm white is pure white.
TIP 4:
When you put away your lights or decorations, label the boxes and carefully wrap up the strands of lights. There is nothing worse than taking them out and they look like they have been in a washing machine all summer. Also, take them down on those days we experience a January thaw. We get lots of them too.
TIP 5:
I do keep lights up I have on my cherry trees all year. These are those lights that I wrap around most branches and it takes forever to do. It is ok in my book to leave them up if you can’t see them. I usually just take down the lights wrapped around the truck of the tree, but leave the others up high. Once the leaves come in and having the green strands of lights you won’t notice. I recommend trying this, the trees look beautiful with most of the branches wrapped in lights.