Outdoor Christmas Lights

This was my first time to ever put up outdoor Christmas lights and I had to restrain myself not to go crazy.  It took me a few days to finally get this much done because I've been working around the rainy weather.  The first part I got done was lining the roof.  I thought this was going to be hard, but it turned out to be a cinch.

I started the process inside on my couch.  I bought these plastic clamps that eliminated the need for nails or hooks.  I didn't buy enough for every bulb so I placed them on every 3rd or 4th bulb.  My neighbor has one for every bulb and they make the lights stand perfectly and create a straight line.  Mine go in every direction and are a little messy.  Whatever.  It's a learning curve.  I'll try to pick up extras at the after Christmas sales and use them next year.  Once they were attached, I went out side and popped them on the shingles.  It probably to no more than 15 minutes to do the whole roof (well, the front facing side of the roof).  What a great invention!  And since I have no peaks from the front of the house, all was done with my 6' ladder.  No roof walking required.

As you can see I bought the new LED lights.  The only downfall is their color.  They are a bright blue-white versus the old yellow-white lights.  It makes them a little crazy looking.  As you can also see from the above picture, my big ol' tree blocks a lot of the house.  My original plan was to just wrap the trunk and limbs.  Here's how far I got with my $50 in lights.

It was so good in concept, but was probably going to require another $50 in lights to complete.  Maybe next year.  I may also try using my old yellow-white lights to do it if I get adventurous this weekend.  I'm not sure if that will clash too bad or even if I'll have enough. 

I used two more LED strands to wrap the post on my porch and I still have one more strand that I've yet to hang. 

I'll keep you posted if I make any major changes or decide to install at 10' inflatable Santa.  Just kidding on the inflatable.