8 Christmas Lighting Hacks and Tips

It truly is the most wonderful time of the year! My toddler is 2 and this is the first real Christmas where he actually understands what’s going on. So I’m pulling out all the strings and trying to make this the best Christmas ever for my little man, starting with the Christmas lights. I need to make the lights look awesome, without spending much money (on lights or electricity), and without doing a lot of work. Here are 8 Christmas lighting hacks and tips that will make putting up the Christmas lights easier, and cheaper.

Christmas Lighting Tips

Have a plan and stick to it every year.

I put up the same length lights in the same position every year. When I first put up lights after we moved in, I installed small hooks all along the gutters. The hooks stay up all year as you can’t really see them. When Christmas rolls back around, I can quickly throw up the lights into the same position without having to come up with a new plan and do the whole trial and error, put up and take down, thing. Now don’t think I have the same boring display every year. I can swap lights out for different colors and designs as long as they’re the same length lights as the previous ones and still use the same hooks.

Have all lights come out of 1 outdoor outlet.

Use a timer with an automatic night sensor and multiple outlets to save money. I never remember to turn on the lights when it gets dark, and leaving them on all night wastes money. I have an auto on timer that turns the lights off after 4 hours. Plus you don’t want your bright lights shining on the neighbor’s house when they’re trying to sleep.

LED is cheaper in the long run.

As with a lot of products, the more you pay upfront for better technology, the more you save in the long run. LED Christmas lights use less energy and are longer lasting then traditional lights. They cost more upfront but the money they save you in electricity, and not having to change light bulbs, is well worth it.

Use a painter’s ladder for easy movement.

Hanging lights with a huge ladder is difficult and time consuming. Hanging them while on the roof is dangerous. Using a light easy to move painter’s ladder is very handy to whip around the roof and get the lights up. You can also use a light hanging pole with the painter’s ladder to make it even faster!

Lights are great but can only be seen at night.

Besides the lights, I use a good amount of cheap garland to wrap trees, light poles, house pillars, mailboxes, and whatever else you can find. To finish it off, add a nice red Christmas bow. This will make your place look festive during the day as well as add to the lights at night.

Christmas Lighting Hacks

Make your own light hanging pole.

I saw a light hanging pole with a hook at the end for 30 bucks at a local store! I mean, it’s gotta be lined with 24k gold at that price right? Or maybe that price includes a robot that hangs the lights for you? Why not just build your own with the stuff you already have in your garage? All you need is a pole from a broom, mop, or even a long stick off a tree. Attach an adjusting wrench to the end with tape or zip ties and you’re done.

Take advantage of your landscaping lights.

Landscaping lights can easily be converted to Christmas lights with this trick. Go to your local grocery store and buy a set of red and green see through plastic picnic cups. Next, use scissors to cut out inserts that will go inside your landscaping lights. These work great for projector LED lights. I use 2 layers of colored plastic to give it a deep red or green look. You can also just put the whole cup over the projector lights as well if you’re not good a cutting.

Top half of plastic picnic cup fits nicely into landscaping lights.

Circle inserts cut from plastic picnic cups. Unscrew top of light housing, put inserts in and screw back on.

LED projector with 2 plastic inserts.

Don’t buy expensive pre-lighted Garland.

Make your own with cheap garland from the dollar store or Target. Add a set of Christmas lights that are the same length and inter-twine them together when you hang it. You can make just as fancy looking lighted garland for a third of the price.

If you have any other tips or hacks, please share them by commenting below. Like my page on Facebook for more great tips and posts! I hope you and your family have a wonderful holiday this year. Thanks for reading!