Depending on how tall your tree trunks are, you may want to wrap your larger trees with string lights instead. Hiring an electrician to install an outdoor outlet with a cover costs $200 to $275. You can also buy pre-balled light sets to save on time! (The railing has baked on enamel paint.). Getting the lights to look just right and taking them down at the end of the holiday season, however, is much harder. Better Homes & Gardens - 100 years of powering your passions at home. If you want the effect of a Rockefeller Christmas tree in your living room, you'll need extra light. It needs to be in a weatherproof electrical box and have a cover. Overlap multiple net lights across your bushes in different directions and lay a few strands of string lights over top of the nets as well. If your tree trunks measure larger than 2' wide, net lights typically measure 4' x 6' and can be used for wrapping larger trees. Be certain that the light string cords are secure in or on the fastener. You'll learn two different ways of hanging Christmas lights in the trees in your yard for your computerized Christmas light show. 3. Use this to calculate the materials needed using this equation: distance/6 = number of lights needed. She has published thousands of articles for various websites and clients, specializing in home renovation, DIY projects, gardening and travel. This is a great technique to put lights on a sparse Christmas tree. References Before you start, plug in the lights to check if all the bulbs are working. String Light Wrapped Trees here are a few tips for putting up Christmas lights on a large outdoor tree. We space our lighting about every 4-6 inches or a hands length apart. Popular color combinations include red and white for candy cane themes, blue and white for winter wonderland designs featuring snowflake motifs and red and green to complement classic Christmas lights. In this guide you'll discover the basics of net lights, installation advice for your project and alternative options for wrapping trees and bushes with lights. Thank you. In this case, 92% of readers who voted found the article helpful, earning it our reader-approved status. Many people put lights on their Christmas tree horizontally because thats how they learned to do it. Use small cable ties or wind excess cord around the trunk to keep it in place and hide it from view. John Granen. This will prevent precipitation from collecting on the plugs and in the sockets, eliminating the risk of electrical shortages or fire. Then, we'll help you create your best holiday tree effortlessly and beautifully. If you're the tech-savvy type who likes to control everything with an app, you're in luck. Repeat step 2 to add lights to the remaining sections of the Christmas tree. Because it'll take far longer to install and it will likely never look as balanced as a set of net lights due to the net light pattern and ability to contour well around shapes. If you have a branch that's drooping or unattractive, simply remove it by clipping it from behind with a pair of florist shears. Christmas Decorations and Gift Store: Christmas Tree Decorating with Lights. Create the right mood Bring on the sparkle with a selection of Christmas lights from Dobbies (Image credit: Dobbies) Christmas is the one time of year when you can never have enough lights. For thicker bushes, start with one set of lights further back and another in front of the first set for complete illumination. Most net lights can be connected end to end and with LED net lights you can often connect numerous net lights together, which means you can outfit a large hedgerow utilizing only one plug outlet. If you have an exterior outlet somewhere on the house, install your extension cord from the outlet to the roof line keeping the cord as close to the building as possible. Wrapping Larger Tree Trunks with Net Lights. Removable tacky clay is available at reputable craft or hardware stores. This article has been viewed 834,107 times. Scroll through to learn about the different types of net lights and how to use them, or click on the specific topic you're hoping to learn more about to be taken to the section you need! Due to their long and narrow design, column wraps are also referred to as ribbon wraps. How to Put up Christmas Lights Outside Download Article parts 1 Choose a Suitable Lighting Display 2 Preparing the Lighting and Display Areas 3 Put Up the Lighting Other Sections Questions & Answers Video Tips and Warnings Related Articles References Author Info Last Updated: May 6, 2021 References Approved If you want your light wrapped trees to be even brighter or seen from from a distance, net lights can be wrapped multiple times around smaller tree trunks as well. This technique leaves more wires at the top of the tree, which can be hidden with a nice tree topper. When hanging Christmas tree lights on a tree, you should plan on using 100 lights for every foot of your tree's height. If you use miniature tree lights, you can wrap them around the branches and leave them on permanentlyjust be sure to light each section separately! Copyright 2023 Acton Media Inc. All rights reserved. If you connect all the strings together at the beginning, it becomes cumbersome to wrap them around the tree. Avoid large globe and bulb lights unless youre decorating a very large bush. Do one step of the project to its completion before you begin the next phase. 6. If you want to light the front and back of the bush, wrap the lights around the bush in a spiral formation, moving from the back to the front and wrapping the lights upward as you go. Divide the height of the Christmas tree by the length of how far apart you want the lights to be. Placing Christmas lights on a tree vertically is faster, which makes taking them off easier, too. ", "This was a big help in decorating our home for Christmas.". What are some tips for installing an outdoor outlet on your home? Place the lid on the Pringles can. Next up, here's how to wrap tree branches with Christmas lights: Connect the male and female lights as you progress with wrapping the lights around the tree. use a trunk-to-tip method to create "not just a shell of light but an inner glow and a three-dimensionality that cannot be achieved any other way," says David Murbach, the manager of the center's gardens division. Bend the loose ends of the wire towards the back of the tree to prevent any injuries. While some people find the piney, wintry scent of the branches puts them in the holiday spirit, others find that real evergreens can create a mess. Dont rush this part, and periodically step back and look at your tree. Mentally divide the tree into three triangular sections. Retailers may also refer to these as twinkle lights, as mini string lights with a faceted surface are designed to have a sparkle effect. Try reducing the number of Christmas lights per power source. Not only will this tell you if the lights are working, but it will also give you an idea of how the bushes will look while you are wrapping them. Learn more Time to deck the halls, walls, mantles, and trees, and best of all, hang up the Christmas lights! Now, you can easily program your Christmas tree lights to display whatever colors and patterns you like, all from a simple app on your smartphone. wikiHow is a wiki, similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. 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Instead, use plastic gutter clips that hook onto the gutter and hold the wire tightly. Before you start installing your outdoor Christmas lights ideas to your house, make sure you have a clear plan, including what lights you want, how many you want, and where you want them, as says Bailey Carson, Home Care Expert at Angi. Horizontal is traditional, sure, but this small change in orientation makes a big difference in presentation. Bend the loose ends of the wire towards the back of the tree to prevent any injuries. Net lights and mini-light strings provide overall illumination, making them ideal for most bushes. Want to try something new? Separate the cord again when you reach the trunk, and slip it over a branchlet to secure it. When starting on a new section, make sure the upside down V blends in seamlessly with the previous section, ensuring there arent any areas lacking in Christmas lights. An article attributed to "Real Simple Editors" indicates a collaborative effort from our in-house team. There are 10 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. Be sure you have outdoor electrical sockets to plug into when you use outdoor Christmas lights. If you're looking to wrap multiple trees which are all of varying sizes and you want a more durable option than traditional trunk wraps, you may be interested in new StretchNet Pro tree wraps. Use coupon code FiveOffSpecial to receive $5 off of your order! Think you could have a section on lights how to string the lights when you only have limited. Mini string lights are the smallest lights you can get. Why not just buy normal string lights and carefully place them on your bushes? A maze of electrical cords hidden in the yard can be hazardous to people and pets. How to put Christmas Lights on bushes - YouTube Learn how to put Christmas Lights on bushes. For a classic but bright look, we like to use LED lights like these warm, clear LED mini Christmas lights ($17, Target). Icicle lights tend to get lost in bushes and work best as an option for the eaves of your home. This works for strands with 6-inch spacing, which we recommend using to achieve a fuller look. While hanging tree lights horizontally is most common, many top decorating experts recommend installing your lights from the bottom to the top. The wattages of all the lights you use should be the same. All you need to do is wrap a few loops of miniature Christmas lights around the plants, and that should be enough to provide gentle heat to the plants. As more strings of lights are needed, connect them once youve used up the current string of Christmas lights. Best Way to Hang Vertical Christmas Tree Lights, 100+ Unbelievable Cyber Monday Amazon Deals on Home, Fashion, and More, How Many Feet of Christmas Lights You Need for Every Tree Height. This creates a better balance of size and makes it less likely that youll overwhelm the bush. Consider a subtler approach by focusing your warm lights on garland, wreaths, nativity scenes, and other Christmas displays. Use six boxes of 100-light strands for a 6-foot. It also makes hanging baubles very easy in sections between the lights. !\r\rOur LIMITED EDITION Challenge Coins/Poker Chips can be purchased for $10, t-shirts for $20, Metal Koozie can cooler for $25, and trucker hats for $29 by contacting us at [email protected]. When putting Christmas lights on a tree vertically, the first step is very similar to placing the lights. Look for fasteners with a moisture resistant, peel-and-stick backing that will hold up to ten pounds.