Making the most of your Christmas lights

One of the most fun elements of Christmas-time is the beautiful lights and displays both indoors and out.  On homes, businesses, city parks, churches, just about everywhere you look there are lights.  Whether it be twinkle lights, spot lights, C9's, what have you, the joy they bring to everyone is a great reward for the work involved.

So why doesn't everyone put up lights at Christmas.  Frankly, not everyone cares to, but, there are probably quite a few that would if it weren't so time consuming and such hard work.  I myself have had moments when I have thought I might scale back and perhaps not hang light on the roof line, or maybe not have as many displays on the lawn.  It's a lot of work, and if the weather doesn't cooperate, it can quickly become miserable work.

What a tangled web we weave...

Nothing will ruin the fun of decorating like a set of tangled lights.  After a frustrating fight that could go on until my hands and arms are sore and my nerves on edge, I have been known to give up, throw them up as they are, or more likely, go out and buy a new set and just forget about the tangled set until next year.  

What's the solution.  Well, let me tell you, I am so excited about this that I can't wait to share it all of you.  It's so simple, it's CRAZY!!

Coat Hangars.  Yes, Coat Hangars.

I have all of my lights on separate coat hangars.  It took all day to get it done, but, I have had them organized this way for almost two years now, and this system has stood the test of time. First I had to go through the tedious task of untangling all of my lights, which I did a strand at a time, first testing to see if the whole strand lit up, and if it did then I would untangle it.  Once it was nice and straight, I wound it around a coat hangar, starting with the female socket end (that's the one that you use to connect a second set of lights to it) and ending with the male end.  This way, I could easily attach a set while it is still on the hangar, and unwind as I decorate to avoid it getting all tangled up again.  Some light sets are bigger than others, but they all fit on coat hangars.  If they were particularly long I would just use a strong hangar to hold the weight.  Then, I put curtain rods in the rafters of my shed and hung the light hangars in order of color and length.  This way, I can easily see what I have, and not have to dig through a pile of lights.  It's made my decoration boxes so much easier to sort through, too.  Oh, and I got this tip off of Buzzfeed, but, there are other holiday decoration enthusiasts that have posted this tip.  Not sure where it originated, but, whoever came up with it is a genius and I will be forever grateful.  They took the most frustrating task in decorating and made it a snap.

Stay tuned, in my next blog post I will give more tips to make your holiday decorating a little less grinchy.

Spring, the best time to prep for the holidays!!

Oh I know, Springtime is all about warmer days, sunny skies, and everything suddenly growing, but, it is also about Spring cleaning, and that is the very reason why it is the best time to prep for the holidays.



Think of all the broken lights, lawn ornaments in disrepair, and the faded paint on the blow molds.  So many decorations suffer the elements year after year, and when do we typically remember that they need fixing?  Fall, at the earliest, and usually when the weather is cold, wet, or some combination of both.  What a miserable time to be pulling things out of storage and sorting through the repairs.

I can't tell you how many times I have just used twist ties, duct tape, or whatever I could muster up to make a quick fix just to get it done.  The worst is when I don't realize something needs attention until it is set up in the cold.  I have vivid memories of numb fingers, wet shoes, and very little fun involved in what is my crowning joy every holiday season. So why not skip the misery, and not only get things fixed in the warm weather, but, get a jump on the decorating by having everything organized and ready for a quick and easy set up.

So pull all the boxes and bags out of storage and set up a place where you can sort it, categorize it, and repair it.  I like to start with the lights, as they are the biggest project and I often use them through the year for other holidays.  First they need to be sorted by color, then by length.  As I pull each one out I plug it in.  Any strands not working at all get tossed in a bin for later.  The partially working strands are also tossed in a separate bin, and finally the fully working strands are wrapped around a clothes hangar for easy storage.  When decorating time arrives, it's so easy to unroll the lights as we go instead of dealing with tangled strands all wrapped up in each other.   I have curtain rods hanging from the ceiling of my storage shed where I have all of my lights hanging.  It's so easy to see what I have, grab what I need, and then easily put them back when I'm done using them.

Testing broken lights strands is tedious work, and best set aside to go through slowly and when you have more time.  Right now, the focus is on getting a picture of what you have and what needs fixing.  Now that you have your working lights on hangars you can move them to your storage area and hang them up.  Next, lawn decorations.  I have several deer, several trees, a large selection of blow molds, a play house that doubles as Santa's house, a sled that has our name painted on it, and various other decorations.

I start with the deer as they are the most likely to need attention.  Again, each one is plugged in to make sure it is working.  If it isn't, I move it aside and check the next one.  Any that I find are in good shape I collapse for storage and move out of my way.  The deer that are having light issues but are otherwise in good shape are my first focus.  I use a light tester and find the offending lights, replace them, and check all the moving parts, if any, and repair what is needed.  Then I move onto the deer that need major work on them.  For instance, Rudolph will need a new tail this year as his old one is simply missing.  Don't ask me how, it's a mystery whey anyone would want Rudolphs tail.  Once all the raindeer are repaired and spruced up they are put into storage.

This year my big project will be repainting a lot of the blow molds and the wood decorations.  I've kind of neglected them over the years.

Krylon and other paint manufacturers have a full line of spray paints for blow molds and playhouses.  It'll be nice to see them all looking like new.  After they are repainted, touched up, detailed, etc, it's time to check their lights for any problems.  These guys take up so much storage space that I have resorted to putting them in the attic above the garage, which makes it more of a challenge to get them down for decorating, but, I just do not have the space for all of them in the shed anymore.  Inflatables would be easier to store, and lots of people love them, but, I like my decorations to look the same night and day.  Running power to them all day and night just to keep the inflatables, well, inflated, is just not an option, so, I don't have any.


Now I just need to go through the same process with the trees in checking lights, repairing parts and pieces and then storing them together.  I test and then store all of the flood lights and spot lights. After that, it's time to go through all the miscellaneous decorations and then store them away.  I also check my extension cords, and wrap them around a hangar for storage, too.  I can't tell you how wonderful it is to just glance at the nicely wrapped cords, see what I need and just grab it without digging through a box or bin for the right length or color cord that has the outlet fitting that I need (ie grounded etc).  All of my towers, timers, and connectors get a once over test and then are put in their bin.  The final step (before going through the not working or partially working lights) is to gather into one bin all of the stakes, hooks, and other supplies I use when setting everything up.

  I will spend probably four or five evenings leisurely testing the partially working lights, and the non working lights, figuring out if it is just a fuse, or one random burnt out bulb, or if the whole strand is bad.  As I store my lights on the curtain rods, it's easy to hang up the strands I repair along with the others without having to dig for a box.

Now, when the weather turns chilly, or if there is an early snow, or we have only one good weather day to get the outdoor decorations set up, we will be ready and will know that everything works and where everything is. No more dreading the huge project, or putting it off when it should be a fun part of holiday decorating.  Next, organize the indoor decorations, but, that will be a later post when the AC is on and I'm longing for Christmas.