Hanging christmas lights
Before stringing any Christmas lights always test and untangle first. There is nothing worse then getting outside, hanging them just so, then turning them on only to find they don't work. It's also a lot easier to replace burnt out bulbs while in the comfort of your home. Cold hands and awkward positions complicate the process so test first then hang. To test your strand of lights simply plug them into an outlet, you don't even have to untangle them yet. Locate any dead bulbs. Using needle nosed pliers pull the bulb out by the base. Replace with a new bulb. Extra bulbs are usually supplied with Christmas lights so remember to keep them. Sometimes you can find extra bulbs sold in stores, but it's less expensive just to keep the supplied extras. Once the entire strand appears to be in working order, gently untangle the strand of lights, and loosely wrap around your elbow and hand over and over again. Being in a nice coil like this will make them easier to hang. If you need an extension cord for your lights you may want to locate one and set it up before taking the lights outside.
Bushes and shrubs are the easiest to decorate. Simply wind around every which way until you are pleased with the results. In the dark you won't see the plants anymore but you will see a cool squiggle of lights. If you insist on having your Christmas lights in a nice and neat order, you may want to consider light nets instead of individual strands. These are extremely easy to use. Just place the center on the top of the plant, the net drapes down, and your done decorating the bushes.
If your yard lacks shrubs but is full of tall trees, you can wind the lights around the tree trunks. In places like Florida and California where there are tall palm trees, people will decorate the trunks as far as they can reach. It's really pretty in the dark. Looks very much like candy cane sticks.
A lot of people like to decorate their houses. This is where safety starts to become a major concern. Be sure to have a sturdy ladder. Since you will need to move the ladder every few feet, remember to check the balance each time you are about to climb back up. You do this by holding the ladder and shaking it a little. If it tips over at all, you need to adjust the feet by moving the ladder a couple inches this way or that way until you find more level ground and the ladder feels more stable. The best case scenario is to have a relative or friend hold the base of the ladder while you are on it. You will still need to check the stability of the ladder each time you move it, but someone holding the base will help it shake less and prevent the ladder from falling over. Always pay extra attention to ladder safety. You don't want to fall off an unstable ladder and spend the holidays with a broken bone or worse.
The easiest way to hang lights along the trim of your house is to use gutter clips. These little plastic clips just hook onto your gutter and then hook onto the lights. They also save you from putting nail holes in your house. The old fashioned way to hand lights is to hammer in small nails all along the trim and hang the lights off of that. You can do it that way, but it's extremely time consuming. However, that method may be the best for window and door frames since gutter hooks most certainly won't work there. Check your favorite department or mass merchandiser store for their latest in Christmas light hooks. In the past few years there was the invention of the temporary plastic hook that holds strong but comes off easy. There are many clips, nails, hooks, etc. to choose from. Even your local home improvement store is a good place to figure out what will work best to hang your lights.
When the holiday season is over and you take down your Christmas lights, be sure to properly store them for the next year. Test each strand before packing it away for your best chance of it working the following year. For easy storage, wrap the lights into a coil (hand to elbow is a quick way to do so), and twisty tie the coil at two or more opposing spots to keep the coil neat. Come the following year it should be really easy to unwind your Christmas lights. No wasted time untangling.