Get matched with top holiday decorators in White River, SD

You can take a few steps to prolong the life of your holiday lights. Make sure to replace burnt-out bulbs as quickly as possible to avoid overloading the rest of the circuit and knocking out more lights. Before packing them up each year, plug each strand into the wall to confirm everything is still working. Wrap the lights carefully back into their original packaging or something similar—winding a strand tightly together or leaving it to hang loose in a storage bin can lead to frayed or damaged wiring. 

Nails are a popular choice for hanging string lights, but they are not the only option. Use outdoor hooks, zip ties, or even awning hangers to string up lights outdoors. For indoor lights, use simple tacks, zip ties, damage-free adhesive hooks, or drawing pins. When all else fails, just wrap the lights around some furniture or outdoor fixtures. 

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.

No one has figured out a perfect solution to this problem. Tying icicle lights down or adding weights to them can help, but it’s a very time-consuming process and far from foolproof. If your winters are too windy, we suggest simply switching away from icicle lights to straight runs of non-dangling lights along the edge of your roof.