The holidays are a time to celebrate with friends and family, indulge in all your favorite Christmas treats, and adorn your home with festive decorations. Nothing quite brings that magical festive spirit to your home like some twinkling lights to illuminate the outside of your property. We reveal five fun outdoor lighting ideas that will brighten up the exterior of your property this Christmas.
Mason Jar Lights
A craft project that helps to recreate the warm glow of a fire outdoors using votive tea lights is the mason jar candle. Easy and inexpensive to make, mason jar candle holders make a beautiful addition to the exterior of your property this holiday period.
You will need some empty mason jars, pebbles, tea lights, yarn, and holly. Simply fill the bottom of the mason jar with an inch worth of the pebbles. Tie some holly on the yarn and then tie the yarn around the top of the jar for a little festive touch. Insert a lit candle into the jar and your mason jar light is complete. The mason jar will help to prevent the candle from being blown out in the wind which makes it perfect for illuminating the path leading up to your home during the nights before Christmas.
Net Lighting
Net lights are designed in a special criss-cross pattern to create a pretty web of lights which can cover bushes for a twinkling display that will make your house stand out from the crowd. For the best results you should first trim your bushes so that they are well manicured before before you hang the lights over them. Check out ChristmasLightsEtc.com for some affordable, beautiful, and reliable decorative net lights that you can use both outdoors and indoors.
Icicle Lighting Display
Image via Flickr by Rick Kimpel
Light up the exterior of your home with special icicle lights and Christmas decorations. These types of lights feature small tree lights that are attached to pieces of dangling wire to create that festive icicle look. You can position them underneath windows and roofs to instantly transform your home into a magical winter wonderland. To really bring the look together you can incorporate some Christmas decorations into the lights such as baubles, bows, holly, and tinsel.
Draped Christmas Lights
If your home has a gated entrance, you can decorate it with some simple draped Christmas lights. You will need some Christmas tree style tinsel which mimics the look of a fir tree as well as some single-strand Christmas lights. Intertwine the Christmas lights around the tinsel and drape it on your front gates. To complete the look you can place giant red velvet bows and small gold bells decorations on the tinsel.
Light Up Wreaths
A lighting craft project that is particularly fun to make with the family is the light up wreath. Wreaths are a Christmas tradition that date back to the 16th century in Europe; homeowners would place them on their front door as a symbol of celebration for the winter solstice. To make your own wreath you will need to gather some craft supplies including a rounded foam base, red ribbon, faux or real evergreen shrubbery, wire, holly, and berries.
Start by cutting up the shrubbery into smaller pieces that can be easily pressed into the foam wreath. You will want to decorate it so that none of the foam base is showing, much like when flower arranging. Tie the red ribbon into a large bow and attach it onto the bottom of the wreath using a piece of bendable wire. You can then wrap the lights around the wreath to help illuminate it at night. Hang the wreath onto your front door with ribbon.
Incorporate one of more of the above lighting projects into your home, and you be sure to wow guests and bring that magical Christmas feeling to your home this winter. Some of the lighting ideas can also be left or adapted so you can still use them on other special occasions throughout the year. Happy holidays!
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