How to Hang Christmas Lights
Anyone who's seen the movie National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation knows that decorating for the holidays can be hazardous to your health. In fact, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, hospital emergency rooms treat more than 12,500 people for injuries every year related to holiday lights, decorations, and Christmas trees. And because we don’t want you becoming a statistic this year, we’ve put together some tips on how to hang Christmas lights.
#1 Preparation is Key
Sometimes we get so excited to hang Christmas lights that we forget to take a moment and gather the necessary items we’ll need to properly hang lights. Here’s a quick list of the items, we at TaskEasy, believe are a must when hanging Christmas lights.
- Ladder
- Measuring Tape
- Light Hanging Clips
- Untangled Christmas Lights
- Extension Cords
- Christmas Light Timer
- Helper
- Time
#2 Don’t Use Furniture!
I know you think that it’ll be easy to just stand on top of that rickety little chair, which is perched precariously on top of that coffee table to hang your Christmas lights but trust me… it’s not easier and it’s a million times more dangerous. When you need to reach places that are high to hang lights, get a sturdy step stool or ladder. Falling is not cool, so don’t do it.
#3 Always Measure
Before you go all crazy hanging christmas lights on your home take a second to measure out the areas that you want to put lights on. It’s no fun hanging lights and realizing you’re short by a couple of feet. If you do this, the process of hanging lights will go a lot smoother and the results will be better.
#4 Clips Please
Clips to hang your lights are amazing and are much friendlier to your home than duct tape, nails, screws, or staples. You can get clips to hang your lights pretty much any place you buy lights and though you might think to yourself “well I don’t think I really need those.” Trust me my friend, you do, we all do. They’ll save you hours of fandangling with your lights trying to get them to stay in the correct spot, also they’re about $3 for 25 clips so it’s worth your money.
#5 Medusa's Head of Lights
For some reason when you beautifully wrap Christmas lights and then store them for 11 months of the year they become a tangled mess. You might be tempted to just untangle as you go but I’m here to tell you that’s a horrible idea, because nothing makes standing 10ft up on a ladder more dangerous than being 10ft up on a ladder while trying to untangle Christmas lights.
#6 Oh Glorious Extension Cords
You think it will reach, you measured it out and you planned ahead, yeah it’ll definitely reach, but it doesn’t. Don’t freak out though, just make sure you have some great extension cords on hand. Extension cords not only make uniting Christmas lights and electricity easier, it also gives you a level of safety when it comes to power surges… so that’s nice.
#7 Time it
I’m sure you looove going outside in the dark and cold to unplug your Christmas lights or turn them on but you don’t have to suffer, you can use timers! Christmas light timers will make your life immensely better and they only cost around $15 (some are cheaper and others are more expensive) but they’re great, so get one.
#8 Sidekicks Save Lives
Yes every superhero needs a trusty sidekick and if you’re hanging your own Christmas lights you’ll definitely need someone to help. I know your hubris makes you think you can do it alone and you probably can, but another pair of helping hands will come in handy especially when you’re 10ft up on a ladder. So just like Batman has Robin, Dorothy has Toto, and Hans Solo has Chewbacca, you need someone to help you hang Christmas lights.
#9 Don’t Rush it
Hanging Christmas lights usually takes longer than you think it will, so here’s a pro-tip, after preparing and measuring make a guess at how long it will take then multiply it by 2. When professionals do it they’re often in a rhythm and they know the in’s and out’s of hanging Christmas lights on a variety of homes so they can get it done quickly and efficiently, but when you do it yourself and you only do it once every year it will take a little longer. Don’t let that scare you away though, we believe in you!
Well that’s our list of tips on how to hang Christmas lights. I hope it helps and as always if you feel you’re getting a little overwhelmed, the team at TaskEasy is here to help you!
