Get matched with top holiday decorators in Martin, SD

The easiest way to hang Christmas lights on your roof is to attach them to your gutters, but there are plenty of user-friendly methods to try. You can use light clips to easily hook Christmas lights to your shingles, eaves, gutters, or soffit. However, using a telescoping pole is a surefire way to ensure your safety while hanging Christmas lights because it doesn’t require using a ladder or climbing onto the roof.

For a 7-foot-tall column, choose a light strand that is at least 32 feet long. You’ll also need to measure the distance from the column to the closest outlet to get outdoor extension cords that are the right length.

Yes, you can try removing and replacing each individual light bulb one at a time until you find the problem bulb—just be prepared for it to take a while. The bulb tester is worth the investment if you don’t have a lot of extra time to spare or need to test several strands of lights.

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.