Decorating New Year's Eve With Christmas Lights

December 31st is the day we celebrate New Year's Eve, but that wasn't always the calendar day it was celebrated in years past. Some 4,000 years ago, the Babylonians celebrated the beginning of the New Year following the first crescent moon after the first day of Spring in honor of the earth being "reborn" following the winter months. We celebrate one day in honor of the New Year arriving, but the Babylonians' celebration lasted for eleven days! Even though our special events and parties probably pale in comparison to the Babylonian celebrations, your New Year's Eve party can be sparkling, beautiful, and memorable when you decorate with lights.

Appetizers are great for New Year's Eve parties so guests can mingle and visit with everyone in attendance. Use white mini LED light sets or battery operated light packs along with champagne glasses, black top hats, lots of curly ribbon in colors of silver and gold, confetti, candles, and glitter on the appetizer table for a great presentation of your finger foods and drinks.

Are you and your guests planning to watch the ball drop on television? Surround your television with mini light sets, streamers and curly ribbon since it will be a focal point during the ball drop and possibly for some of the broadcasted festivities following the arrival of the New Year.

If you have a large room where you'll be celebrating, such as a living room, great room, banquet room, or reception hall, use several light sets on the ceiling. String them from a focal point in the middle of the room, suspending them with clear wire all the way to the corners of the room and in between. The ceiling centerpiece could be sparkling stars, moons, and streamers hanging down at varying intervals from the ceiling.

Welcome your guests by using Christmas light stakes to suspend traditional C7 or C9 traditional or LED lights along your driveway and walkway. Your friends will be in a festive mood before they knock on your door!

Battery operated lights add sparkle to any party hat, so consider adding them to your glittery party hat and make a real statement.

Balloons, streamers, and lights are a given at a great party, so use them liberally in your hallway, powder rooms, kitchen, dining area, basement, or any other room in which your guests will congregate.

A themed New Year's Eve party would be a big hit with your guests. Some popular themes for this holiday might include a Roaring 20's theme, a Black Tie event, a luau, an 80's or 50's theme, or an all American theme. No matter which theme and color scheme you choose, there are a wide variety of colorful mini lights to compliment or match your New Year's Eve party decorations.

Is the Christmas tree still standing? Leave the light sets on the tree and replace your Christmas ornaments with New Year's style decorations that either match or compliment your party theme or in a traditional style. Clear mini lights or warm white mini LED lights are the perfect backdrop for glittering stars, fancy top hats, and bulbs.

New Year's Eve gives us a reason to celebrate the coming year and to enjoy family and friends at the same time. Our mini lights, battery operated LED light sets, and our shaped lights offer a great variety of decorating options when it comes to bringing light, elegance, or whimsy to your New Year's Eve celebration.

Christmas Wreaths For Your Front Door

When it comes to decorating your home for the holidays, there are pretty much two staples you'll want to make sure you have: outdoor Christmas lights and a Christmas wreath for your front door. As soon as you get these items up, not only will you start to feel the spirit of the season start to set in, but your neighbors will too. Before you know it, the whole neighborhood will slowly (sometimes not so slowly!) start to transform into a holiday wonderland!

There are a few things you should keep in mind when setting your home up with these outdoor Christmas decorations. Failing to follow these simple guidelines may lead to your holiday spirit turning quickly into holiday frustration, and no one wants you to go through that. So read on, follow these few simple, basic recommendations, and enjoy your Christmas festivities along with your whole family, friends and neighbors.

First of all, when getting a wreath for your front door, you need to remember that as beautiful as a particular design might look in a magazine, web page or in the store itself, this decoration is going to be on the OUTSIDE of your door. That means it will be exposed to the full fury of whatever Mother Nature decides to dish out this season. And as I'm sure you're well aware, that can sometimes be a pretty mean dish!

So before committing to a particular wreath, make sure it is put together with strong wire and that there aren't any fragile, dainty pieces on it if your front door is in any way directly exposed to the elements. For example, you may not want to have any delicate bows attached if your door can get drenched by rain, freezing rain, sleet etc. Of course if your door is well protected, you can go with pretty much any design you want.

As far as outdoor Christmas lights are concerned, the biggest thing to be aware of is that not all Christmas string lights are designed for use outdoors. Just like the issues mentioned above with the wreaths, you have to take weather conditions into consideration. This is even more critical when you're talking about something that runs on electricity! Don't go cheap and think that you can get by with indoor lights on the outside of your house. If you do, you might just find your holiday light decorations suddenly go dark. Or worse yet, you could even cause a fire or cause someone to get an electrical shock.

How to Decorate With Outdoor Christmas Lights

Hanging Christmas lights is popular and traditional for many families. But, it can be a daunting and frustrating experience. Take the time to plan and hand the Christmas lights in a step-by-step, organized fashion. A little planning can go a long way!

Here's what you need to know to get the Christmas lighting project done without the stress and hassle.

1. Create an Electric Plan. Plan ahead and know exactly what you want to hang lights on, and how you plan to plug them in. Connecting too many strings of lights together can blow fuses (especially the cheaper strings of lights). Plan the set-up by utilizing a couple of electrical outlets.

2. Safety Issues. Clean the dried leaves from gutters and downspouts to alleviate the chance of fires. Make sure the electrical cords are intact and not cracked or torn. Be sure the hooks are secure and provide a sturdy place to attach the lights.

3. Use Proper Tools. Get out the tools you will need for the project. Most likely, you will need a ladder, tape measure, light clips or hooks, decorative lights and extension cords. You might also need a hammer, pliers and a screwdriver.

4. Separate light strands and test the lights. Before hanging any decorations, separate the strands, lay them out across the yard or driveway to get all the twists and kinks out of the strings. Check for broken bulbs and split wiring. Plug in the light strings, and replace any dead bulbs. It's easier to replace burned out bulbs before they are hung and out of reach.

5. Hangers, hooks and clips. Evenly space the hooks or clips along the eaves of your home. Make sure the hooks/clips are attached firmly and spaced far enough apart to keep the light strands from dangling or swinging in the breeze. Usually, 12 inches is about right. Attach all the hooks along the areas you plan to have lights. Don't use staples or nails, because the wires can be split, light strands can be ruined, and potential fire hazards can be created.

6. Hang the lights. Before climbing the ladder, make sure it is on flat ground and has a firm footing. Ask someone to hold the ladder steady. When hanging Christmas lights, be sure to hold the strings up to prevent the weight from the not-yet-hung portion of the strand from pulling off or breaking any clips or hooks.

7. Power Up. Once the lights have been placed securely in the light hooks, plug the strings into the planned outlets. Set timers, if you're using them. Check to be sure there are no extension cords dangling, or hanging wires that could create a safety hazard.

8. All Systems Go. Now it's time to turn on the lights and do a final check for any missing or dead bulbs. If there should be an entire string that isn't working, check the connections before replacing the string. Many times the problem is a bad connection or a burned out light bulb instead of a faulty string, especially if the strand worked before hanging.

9. Enjoy the Show! Pick up any debris and empty boxes, put your tools away, and walk from your house to get a better look at your handiwork. Bet you've got the prettiest light display on your block!

Christmas Lights Trends

It is that time of the year to start thinking about putting up your Christmas lights. Why not try something different this year? There are a few ways you can spice up your Christmas lighting schemes. You can use your existing Christmas lights in new or different ways. Alternatively, you can explore some of the new Christmas lighting trends that are on the market.

Of course the cheapest alternative is to re-use your old Christmas lights in ways that are different from last year or previous years. If you tend to run a string along the front gutter of your house, try to change things up. Perhaps this year you can choose to illuminate the handrails of your front porch and the perimeter of your front door. Experiment with different ideas. Maybe you have a few front trees that can be strung with lights while keeping your house unadorned. Think outside of your traditional Christmas lighting ideas. You can try a number of different lighting ideas. If a new idea fails to appeal to you, simply take it down and try something new.

A more expensive way of switching things up, is to invest in new Christmas lighting. With the newer lighter and more energy efficient lights on the market, you even be saving money in the long run. These newer more energy efficient lights will have a positive impact on your energy bill. If you do not have the budget for new Christmas lights this year, think about buy just one "focus" piece. For example, there are great light balls available at Ikea. The addition of this ball to your existing strings of lights will add some spice.

A word of warning if you are considering whether to buy brand new Christmas lighting. Christmas lights trends tend to come and go. What appeared spectacular and wonderful one year might not seem so spectacular the next year. I learned this lesson with icicle lights. The first year that they were on the market I loved them. They looked so new and sparkly. The following year their popularity seemed to explode and every second home was adorned with icicle lights. I quickly tired of icicle lights. I recommend not spending very much money on the newest Christmas trend. I tend towards more subtle traditional lighting schemes, wait a year or two before buying into the newest Christmas lights trends and you will be less likely to make a mistake.