The use of outdoor Christmas decorations helps fulfill one of the objectives of the Christmas season. By adorning the outside of your home, you are sharing a bit of your joy and exuberance with the rest of the neighborhood.

photo credit: Beaukiss Steve

Growing up in a small rural community, there was not a big opportunity for outdoor decorating. If folks had a decorating budget at all, their money was spent on indoor decorating. Christmas trains running around the Christmas tree were popular. Department 56 style Christmas villages appeared as soon as the Thanksgiving celebration had ended. Christmas wreaths, candles, and bows seemed to appear from nowhere.

However, this did not stop me from trying my hand at outdoor Christmas decorations. As a result of a contest for selling newspapers, I won a set of outdoor Christmas lights. These were the huge C-9  lights, but that was all right with me. They gave me an idea.

My first attempt at outdoor lighting was to create a star out of plywood. After cutting out the pattern, I drilled holes to hold the individual lights. With this first attempt, I did not use any preservatives so this star was not an everlasting star.

Once the star was completed and the lights were tested, I affixed the star to an unused chimney on our house with wire, plugged it into an extension cord and waited for nightfall.

After that effort, in succeeding years I added outdoor lights around the roofline of the porch as well as around the porch railings.

Outdoor Christmas decorations have come a long way since those first efforts. While I currently live in an apartment and do not have the luxury of a large space for illuminating the Christmas spirit, I still do what external lighting I can. My family and I most assuredly enjoy observing the creative ways others in the neighborhood share their unique Christmas story with us.

Outdoor Christmas Decorations - Light Hanging System

There is always a bit of a hassle when it comes to hanging holiday string lights. It seems as if no matter how carefully you put the lights away the previous year, the “twist them up” gremlins have managed to get them tangled. Frustration levels rise exponentially with the number of strings of lights that have to be untangled and tested. Once sorted out, these same lights will need transporting to the outside area for attaching to the outline of the house without breaking any of the lights and without tangling again.

With the lights aligned in the manner you desire, it is time to get them on the building. This will require the use of a ladder and a means for holding the lights secure. Most often staples, cup hooks, or some kind of hanger is used. At the end of the season, the process goes in reverse with the removal of staples, cup hooks, or hangers and lights returned to their storage bins where the “twist them up” gremlins will have free reign for another year.

Now there is a more permanent way to lessen the hassles of the annual ritual of putting up the outdoor Christmas decorations. With the UP-N-AWAY Track, putting up and taking down your Christmas lights becomes almost as easy as opening the vertical blinds on your patio door. The track can be painted to match the exterior of your home, either before or after installation, and can be left permanently in place. There will not be unsightly staples, cup holders, or other kinds of hangers. This system also provides a means for storage without tangling. Tracks can be placed side by side so different styles of string lights can be used to create a stunning display.

When the budget for outdoor Christmas decorations is limited, perhaps the best use of resources is to do what you can with outdoor lighting. With LED lighting, you can string more lights together while saving electrical use at the same time. There are many styles of lights from which to choose. You can select from rope lights, icicle lights, net lights, specialty lights, LED lights and traditional looking lights that utilize LED technology.

Whatever you do, let your outdoor Christmas decorations light up the night.