Decorate with Christmas Lights: Getting Started
Easy How-To Tips for Lighting Your Home for the Holidays
Nov 3, 2008
Putting Christmas lights and other decorations on your home or front yard can be a lot of creative fun. Here are some how-to ideas to make the getting-started process (relatively) easy.
Give Yourself a Workable Schedule.
Designing, buying and installing lights can take weeks or months, especially if you're new at the job.
To set your schedule, pick a date when you want to set the display ablaze – some light enthusiasts flick the switch right after Thanksgiving; others wait until days into December – and work backwards from there. Be realistic. Decide how much you can tolerate working outdoors in cold weather. And do you prefer to put up lights on weekends, at night, or in the morning before the workday starts?
Get the Facts.
Talk to neighbors who have created their own displays. Ask them how they did it. Find out what they would recommend you do and especially what they recommend you avoid. They've learned from their mistakes; you should, too.
Look at lights-oriented websites as well. Among the best:
Take it Easy on Yourself.
You may dream of making your home bright enough to see from Mars, but that’s too big a job for most first-timers. Instead:
- Start small. Many householders with massive displays started with only a few lights. The best displays tend to grow gradually, year after year.
- Focus on one particular item that you most want to light. "For example, if having lights on the roof is the most important item to consider,” according to professional decorator Larry Brown of the firm Christmas Pro Shop, “then design the roof lighting first, then build the remaining items around [it]."
- Pick a theme. Some people put up displays keyed to the 12 Days of Christmas, or the Grinch, or patriotism. Others go with a single color; if everyone in your neighborhood runs flashy explosions of rainbow hues, consider using nothing but chaste white lights.
Draw Your Display Before You Install It.
Jot down notes and make rough sketches about how you want your home to look.
Transfer your best ideas onto images of your home. Whip out a camera and take photos of the place from several angles. (After all, your home should look good to all the people who see it, no matter where they stand.) Blow up the photos until they’re at least letter size, and preferably bigger. At this point, you have a few options:
- Using pens or color pencils, draw directly on the photos.
- Make color Xeroxes of the photos at your local copy shop and draw on the Xeroxes.
- Get artist's tissue paper, which is frosted to be translucent; lay it over the photos; and draw on the tissues.
- Put the photos on your computer, and draw on the photos using Photoshop or other picture-manipulating software.
Whatever method you choose, the key is to work out as many details as possible before doing the hard physical labor of climbing ladders and attaching light strands.
If you follow these steps, you’ll save yourself buckets of time and trouble. What’s more, you should be ready to construct anything from a quietly tasteful glow to a blazing extravaganza.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
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