How to Make Christmas Lights Blink for a Twinkling Holiday Scene

Add a twinkle to your holiday cheer with this easy DIY

A Christmas tree in a festive living room
Photo: New Africa / Adobe Stock
A Christmas tree in a festive living room
Photo: New Africa / Adobe Stock
Staci Parks
Written by Staci Parks
Contributing Writer
Updated Aug 2, 2024
SKILL LEVEL
Easy
COMPLETION TIME
10 minutes
COST
$7–$25
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What you'll need:
TOOLS
  • Rubber-insulated gloves (optional)
SUPPLIES
  • Blinking bulbs
  • Extra strand of lights (optional)
  • Electrical tape

Twinkling Christmas lights are one of the simple joys of the winter season. We all love blinking lights, whether they’re woven throughout the branches of our Christmas trees or professionally hung outside our homes. Getting blinkers for Christmas lights is easier than you might think. Also, adding blinking bulbs to a strand of lights is a quick, easy fix if you’re looking for ways to save time and money on Christmas lights. Read on for everything you need to know about how to make Christmas lights blink and twinkle.

Prepping to Make Christmas Lights Flash

There are several holiday lighting do’s and don’ts, but your safety should always come first. You can wear rubber-insulated gloves for an added layer of protection since you’ll be working with electrical outlets and wiring. Unplug the strand of lights you’ll work with to reduce your risk of shock. Before figuring out how to make Christmas lights flash, make sure the strand of lights is in good condition. Not only will this keep your home merry, bright, and safe, but you will save time and effort down the line.

Locate or Buy a ‘Blinking Bulb’

Christmas lights usually come with “flasher bulbs” or “blinking, bulbs”—those are what you’ll need to make your lights twinkle. You can easily spot blinking bulbs by their red or silver tips. One of these bulbs makes the other bulbs in this circuit blink, too. If you didn’t hang on to the extra bulbs that came with the initial box, you can buy blinking and non-blinking replacement bulbs at most hardware stores. 

You’ll want to have enough bulbs on hand to troubleshoot. But having a few extra blinking and non-blinking bulbs nearby is also helpful in case you break or lose any in the bulb-replacement process.

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Now that you’ve got all your supplies in place, it’s time to make those little lights twinkle. Here’s how.

  1. Remove and Untangle Your Lights

    A woman untangling Christmas lights
    Photo: Alliance / Adobe Stock

    Unplug your Christmas lights and carefully untangle them, laying them flat on a hard, dry surface, such as a kitchen floor or table. If you're working with several strings of non-blinking lights, simply place them side by side in horizontal rows. You may want to wait five to 10 minutes to allow the lights to cool, depending on the type of lights and how long they’ve been plugged in. Most lights come with features to keep them from getting too hot, but it depends on the age of the light strand.

    Once the bulbs are cool to your touch, slowly move your hands down the strand, bulb-by-bulb, checking for loose or cracked bulbs or frayed wiring. Loose bulbs may be easier to diagnose (and fix) than frayed wiring. For wiring, look for bare, or exposed, wires in the strand’s plastic coating. Closely examine the strand to see if wires are torn or damaged. If the plastic coating is the only part that’s torn, wrap electrical tape around this section. But, if you find frayed, torn wiring, it’s best to retire the strand and start with a new one. Replace any loose or broken bulbs before moving on.

  2. Locate and Remove the Right Bulb

    Look for the bulb at the very end of the string of lights; this will be the bulb closest to the light string’s plug. Gently but securely pinch the bulb using your thumb and index finger. This will help the bulb and base come out of the light strand—not just the glass bulb. Set the bulb aside in a safe space away from children and pets.

  3. Secure a Blinking Bulb Into the Light Strand

    Next, place your “blinking bulb” into the new opening on the light strand. To replace the non-blinking bulb, hold the red- or silver-tipped blinking bulb between your thumb and index finger. Be sure to follow light safety guidelines. You will see small, thin copper wires along the bulb’s base. Place the bulb into the light strand base first.

  4. Test the String of Lights

    A snowy front entrance of a house decorated for Christmas
    Photo: Jo Ann Snover / Adobe Stock

    Once the blinking bulb is secured, plug in the string of Christmas lights to the nearest electrical outlet. You should see blinking lights a few seconds after plugging in the strand. If only half of the light strand is blinking, don’t worry. This likely means that your strand of Christmas lights has two circuits. If you want the entire strand to blink, locate the bulb next to the last blinking light. Make a note of this bulb’s placement, and unplug the light strand. Gently grip the bulb and replace it with a blinking bulb with a red or silver tip.

DIY vs. Hiring a Pro

Bright, twinkling Christmas lights are the focal point of the holiday season. Installing blinking holiday lights is something a professional Christmas light installer can handle if you don't want to do it yourself. But this project is easy and affordable to complete, so you’re better off taking a DIY approach to make Christmas lights blink. 

If you’re looking to expand your holiday cheer to larger, more advanced light installations, consider hiring a holiday decoration service. The cost to hire a Christmas light installer runs between $220 and $650 for an entire house. Pros can drape your entire home’s exterior with holiday cheer while you sip hot chocolate by the fireplace.

Frequently Asked Questions

A blinking, or twinkle, bulb makes Christmas lights blink. Usually, this type of bulb has a silver or red tip, making it easily distinguishable from other non-blinking bulbs. Most packages of Christmas lights come with additional blinking and non-blinking bulbs. Additional bulbs can be purchased at a hardware store or online retailer.

Blinker lights come with a standard box of Christmas lights, so you don’t need to pay extra for them unless you’ve misplaced the ones from the original box. You can buy replacement Christmas blinker lights for about $8 per box. If you want to plan for future holidays, you can buy a value box of 24 replacement blinker bulbs for about $12. Also called flasher lights, the replacement bulbs often come in packages of six bulbs.

If you take home a pre-lit Christmas tree but want to spruce it up with blinking lights, don’t worry, there’s a simple solution. You can easily replace the light bulbs on the pre-lit tree with flashing bulbs. For a more subtle look, only replace some of the bulbs with flashing bulbs.

You can absolutely sync Christmas lights with music to create a DIY light show that lights up the neighborhood. You’ll need to purchase a light show control system, a software program like Light-O-Rama, and many lights to create your desired light extravaganza. Then, you should program your lights and choose your audio method, such as speakers or a FM broadcast. Test the entire system a few times to ensure it’s in working order, and then prepare to be the talk of the neighborhood.

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Learn more about our contributor
Staci Parks
Written by Staci Parks
Contributing Writer
Staci Parks is a Dallas-based freelance writer, communications professional and first-time homeowner.

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