Setting up Outdoor Christmas Lights on the House

Setting Up Outdoor Christmas Lights on the House. 

Time Lapse Video of setting up Outdoor Christmas Lights on our house. It has become a wonderful tradition to decorate our house as much as possible. Read more on just how that started further down the post.

Below is the Time Lapse Video of setting up the Outdoor Christmas Lights on our house.

All of the Christmas Lights that were used on the house

A lot of people were asking what lights were used and which type of Christmas Light Decorations were put on various areas of the house.  So below is a breakdown of all the types of Christmas lights that were used to decorate the house and where they were put up.

The Abominable Snowman wire frame light up outdoor yard Christmas Decoration

My favorite Christmas Decoration by far is the Abominable Snowman.  Once I saw this I knew I had to get it.  Not sure if any Christmas Yard Decoration can rival this one. But, if you know of one I want to hear about it!  If you do please, please, send a message on our Contact Page, by clicking this link , or comment below and let me know about it!

This was one of the first things I bought for our outdoor Christmas decorations for the first Christmas and holiday season in our new house.  

First year in our new house was one of the most special, but also one of the most difficult 

What made getting all kinds of Christmas Decorations even more important. Was the year that we bought and moved into our new house. Was also one of the busiest years I’ve ever had for work.

Most people complain about working too much. But most don’t know how bad it can really be. For anyone that thinks they work too much I’ll put my work schedule and sea time log books up against anyones work schedule. I’m sure there are a few people out there that surpass it. And if they can I feel for them!

Now I know I am very fortunate that I get to do what I love working as a yacht captain.  But this also often makes it very difficult to have a normal life.

The first year in our new house I missed every holiday, birthday, anniversary, and almost every weekend

The year we bought and moved into our house I missed every major holiday… And I mean EVERY holiday, milstones, and life events.

1. I was gone for New Years Day to start the year off. 
2. Missed the Martin Luther King Holiday day and that entire holiday weekend.
3. Missed out on Saint Patrick’s Day as I was traveling.
4. Gone for our wedding anniversary.
5. Was gone for Good Friday.
6. Gone for Easter. 
7. Away during Memorial Day Weekend.
8. Gone for 4th of July weekend.
9. Missed my wifes birthday as I was on yet another trip.
10. Traveling during Labor Day weekend.
11. Worked on Halloween.
12. Missed celebrating my own birthday.
13. Gone for Veterans Day.
14. And worst yet was gone the entire Thanksgiving week and weekend traveling for work.
15. To top it off was going to be gone for Christmas and New Years!

I could tell after missing every holiday and life event the final straw was missing Christmas…

After missing so many holidays, birthdays, weddings, anniversary’s, countless weekends, and when home was working crazy long hours of 12 to 16 hour days.  I knew I had to do something special for Christmas.  

So I started to buy Christmas lights on my way home every evening that I was able to come home. I started this a few days after Thanksgiving weekend up until I left on another long trip before Christmas.

Every evening that I was home I would eat dinner. Spend much needed time with my wife.  Then get outside decorating for a half hour to an hour. Trying to just do a little at a time when I could manage to fit it in.

After a few days of not being able to add to it due to getting home after midnight or just due to being away traveling for work. I was finally able to find a few extra minutes again. So late at night on the way home I would buy a few more Christmas lights and work on setting up outdoor Christmas lights on the house some more.

During the holiday season I worked for over 3 months straight without a day off…  When I hear people complain about working too much I usually ask if they have weekends or any week days off every week.  Almost everyone says yeah but maybe they had to work an extra day or two for one or two weeks…

Well try doing that for 3 months straight.  Then have one single day off which you spend with your wife picking out a dinning room set. Next day going straight back to working another 3 month stretch of 12 to 16 hour days without a day off once again.

The Start of so many Christmas Decorations

After coming home and adding to the Christmas Decorations when I could. And doing it as much as possible leading up to my eventual departure on yet another yacht trip. The amount of lights accumulated around the house and front yard started to gain attention from neighbors.

I explained over and over to on lookers how I missed so many holidays, anniversary’s, birthdays, etc.  So to try to bring a little joy to my wife while I would be gone yet again. I was doing as much as I could to keep the Christmas Spirit alive.

That is how the ridiculous amount of Christmas Decorations started

Setting up all of these outdoor Christmas decorations started by trying in some way to bring joy and cheerfulness to my wife… Even if only a tinny bit while I was gone yet again.

After that years brutal work schedule I could of said I’ll take some time off from setting up so many Christmas Lights. But now setting up all of these Christmas Lights around the house and front yard has become a tradition.  A tradition that helps me remember how lucky I am for every day I get to spend with my family, friends, especially my beautiful wife and incredible daughter.

Spending the holidays with the ones you love is wonderful, but we also need to remember how wonderful it is to get to spend time with our loved ones between those holidays as well.

It’s not always the Quantity of time together but more Importantly it’s the Quality of time together

Although that year was brutal for work and I worked far to much.  It helped me realize yes holidays are great to spend with loved ones.  But sometimes we have to remember every regular day together is also a wonderful gift that we must enjoy as much as possible too. 

Looking back years ago now. Even though I worked 3 month stretches with only 1 day off during that first year in our new house together.  The one day off I did have I remember to this day exactly what I was doing with my wife.  Even though it was not a traditional special day due to it being a special holiday, anniversary, or birthday celebration.  I still remember it being a special day because it was a day I was able to spend with someone I love so much.

You see, all of these Christmas Lights set up all over the place are not just for celebrating Christmas.  But also for celebrating every day leading up to Christmas.  Everyday that you get to spend with those that are closest to you.  Your friends, your family, and your most cherished loved ones.  Celebrate a little every day, because every day there is a lot to celebrate!

Back to the types of Christmas Lights used in various areas of the house

Well now you know a little about why this crazy amount of Christmas lights are hanging on the house, I can get back to which Christmas lights were used on each location of the house.

Home Accents Holiday lights with 25 C9 continuous on LED lights super bright Christmas lights in Blue

The first lights you see in the video setting up outdoor Christmas Lights on the house are the blue lights.  These lights go along the roof angles. Along with being used on two of the three palm trees in the front yard.  On the palm trees these Christmas lights are used to spiral up the palm tree trunks. And are the Home Accents Holiday lights with 25 C9 continuous on LED lights which are super bright Christmas lights in Blue.

The 25 stands for how many lights are on each string.  And the C9 is the type of light bulb which is one of the largest versions offered by Home Accents.  To keep from my neighbors happy I like using the continuous on lights. My neighbors say they light the continuous on Christmas lights… The blinking ones they say are not as much fun to have across the street.

To hold the Christmas light strings to the roof angles I use some 3M wall hangers shown below.

3M Command wall hangers are awesome for putting up Christmas lights around the house

These are used on the roof tops along the angles to keep the Christmas lights from sliding down the roof.  Even through the entire holiday season they work great through wind and rain. 

As I write this just a few days before Christmas these have already been holding up the lights for 21 days.  A full three weeks with non of them failing. And in the past few days we have had small craft marine warnings, gale force winds, pretty constant light rain, with some occasional heavy down pours.  

Even though the 3M command wall hangers say for indoor use.  I they have been out on top of the roof and have been doing great for three weeks so far!

I also use these 3M Command wall hangers to hold up the lights that go around the garage doors. 

Just simply stick the hangers to the outside wall above the garage door in three places.  One on the left edge of the garage door. One in the middle above the garage door. And one on right side of the garage door. 

Then you can use the hook to hang the lights.

Holiday Living 300 ct clear icicle lights, white Christmas Lights

Lights used off the eves of the house are these awesome Holiday Living 300 count clear icicle lights. Which are the white Christmas Lights version.

These lights have been great and have stood up over the years very well with no issues.  Highly recommend these icicle Christmas Lights for the price.

Home Accents Holiday indoor / outdoor Candy cane pathway lights with ground stakes and hanging line

Candy Cane Pathway Lights from Home Accents come with ground stakes and hanging lines on the candy canes.  This way you can use the lights either on the ground like we did, or hanging.  

When you use them on the ground you can insert a ground stake into the bottom of the light.  Once the stake is installed you can push the stake end into the ground and they then stand up.  We did this around the planters, walkways, side walk, and most of the driveway.

Hanging the candy cane lights is another option.  The top of the candy cane lights come with a loop of fishing line that allows you to easily hang them right side up.  Since we place ours in the ground I just cut that line off so it doesn’t tangle while setting up or storing them.

Home Accents Holiday Candy Cane LED Rope Christmas Lights come in 40 ft and 20 ft versions

Along the edges of the driveway, sidewalks, walkways, and bordering the planters we also put these awesome rope lights.  You can buy these Home Accents Holiday Candy Cane LED Rope Lights in 40 ft and 20 ft versions.  

The 20 ft version is actually two ten foot sections put together.  and the 40 ft version is four ten foot sections put together.  They do this so you can make it the length you need.  By unscrewing the securing sleeve. Followed by pulling apart the two connectors.  One connector will be a male and the other a female.

Now with the sections apart you can make the total length shorter by removing sections.  Or longer by adding sections.  It says you can connect them together as far as 144 ft to one outlet since they are LED Christmas Lights.

These Christmas Lights are for sure one of our favorite to really set off the entire display along any borders.

Home Accents Holiday 300 mini continuous on LED net lights in multi color version

These Home Accents Holiday LED net lights make it so quick and easy to cover areas quickly. We use these over our bushes in the front yard and it makes decorating this area with Christmas lights a snap.  Each section is 4 ft by 6 ft so they cover a large area.

Main thing I have to do with these net lights though is tie the net light sections together to keep them uniform. When using more than one section of net light its hard to keep the seam even otherwise.  So I use a few twist ties to secure them. Three of them work perfectly.  I put one on each edge where the corners join and one in the middle of the joint.

Also with these net lights I have to tie the back side of the net light to the fencing behind some of the bushes.  This is because these LED Christmas Lights are a little heavy.  Which is not a bad thing, it actually just shows how well they are made. However once the net lights are placed on the bushes most of the weight hangs on the front side of the bushes. This causes the bushes to lean towards the walk way and sometimes the net lights fall off.

Our bushes by the three palm trees do not have this issue however as those bushes are much stronger and can support the weight of these Christmas LED net lights without flexing much.

So if you are looking for quick easy ways to add lights quick these Home Accents Holiday 300 mini continuous on LED net lights that are 4 ft by 6 ft are awesome.

GE outdoor 6 outlet yard stake timer is amazing

Dealing with all of these lights you will use a lot of extension cords and light timers.  These GE outdoor 6 outlet yard stake timers are simply amazing.  

In the past I used a bunch of outdoor timers that had only two outlets.  They work and are listed below as something I use. But in areas where you need 6 outlets using just one of these is far easier than using three of the dual outlet timers.

I used four of these 6 outlet yard stake timers for the first time this year. And wow did they streamline the process. Less extension cords need to be run, and fewer total light timers need to be set.

Highly recommend this product!

Prime Heavy Duty 24-Hour Outdoor Timer with two outlets

Dual outlet timers are great for certain areas where you do not need six outlets. Or areas where you are plugging the timer in up high.  As these are lighter and can hang from the outlet easier due to the weight and the plug in end being a 90 degree plug end.

While setting up outdoor Christmas Lights on the house these work perfectly for the areas that only two outlets were needed.  Generally towards the edges of the house Christmas Lights display. Such as for the lights that follow around the garage door opening. Along with the few blue light strings on the roof.

Now you know some How To tips we use on our Home Christmas Light Decorations

Now that you know some how to tips we have used on our home setting up Christmas lights outside. Get out there too and work on setting up your outdoor Christmas Lights on the house. Let us know what you think about ours, or if you figure out any tips, ticks, or ways how to do it better send us a message at our contact page HERE, or leave a comment below.

Most importantly though remember to enjoy everything about Christmas time. Setting up the Christmas lights. Putting up the Christmas tree. Searching for that perfect gift. Planning holiday parties. And having family get togethers. As they are not just for celebrating Christmas…

But also for celebrating every day leading up to Christmas.  Everyday that you get to spend with those that are closest to you.  Your friends, your family, and your most cherished loved ones.  Celebrate a little every day, because every day there is a lot to celebrate!

I hope everyone not only has a Merry Christmas but also every day leading up to Christmas is almost just as wonderful as well. Merry Christmas!!!