Are you a die-hard lover of Christmas lights and can the number of lights and candles not be enough during this period? Or do you think the lights in your Christmas tree are more than enough decoration? We had been 'dreaming' for some time of beautiful Christmas lights outside, but we didn't think our old house was really suitable. But now? Now we can go wild 😉 !
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Since we moved, we have already shouted to each other a number of times that our new house lends itself so beautifully for Christmas lights outside. In fact… sometime in September Frank already called out that - in addition to the icicle lighting that we like to hang - he might also want an illuminated sleigh in the front yard. WHUT? I must say that I still have to get used to that idea.
And luckily I have the time for that, because… first things first… we start with the outdoor Christmas lights for the eaves of the house. You have to start somewhere, don't you?
I've always wanted Christmas lights on the edges of the roof. And it seems as if our new house is specially made for that. The roof at the front above the bar frames in the new office (near the old stable doors) runs nicely into a point, so that you can hang beautiful lighting from it. Then comes a small intermediate section with a flat roof, and after that comes the main part of the house, with a point above the children's bedrooms, a straight section at the front of the house and another point at our bedroom. And then you also have the pointed roof of the shed where we also like to hang Christmas lights on the outside.
We did look for this for a while, but in the end we arrived at professional connectable icicle lighting. You have all kinds of Christmas lighting such as garland lighting (with greenery on it), but also entire light curtains that you can hang in front of facades. I think the latter suits huge villas better, not the farmhouse style we have 😉 .
In addition, I find the lighting that we have now chosen for outside very charming and really nice and Christmasy. They are those icicle strands that "fall" down and that are not all the same length. This gives you a playful effect. Together with the tight contours that you make while hanging those Christmas lights outside, you get the above effect. Great right?
Anyway, after determining the type of lighting, you still have to think about how much you need. And I'm not just talking about the icicle lighting cords themselves, but also the starting piece and any extension cables (for the connectors where you don't want lighting). And then the power also comes from a place that is halfway between the two roofs. How does that work? I'll tell you how I figured out how much we need with us:
What I did is I took a picture of the front of the house and the shed. On this I drew the lines in my photo editing program where I want the Christmas lights outside, i.e. the icicle lighting. But also the places where I don't want lighting, but where it must be switched by means of a special extension cable.
Based on the photos above, I was able to make a reasonable estimate of the whole. I have the sloping sides of the roof by means of. estimated a drawing and a 'to scale ruler' without actually measuring them. Small risk, but I think the estimate worked out nicely. Although I don't think we're going to have any leftovers… it will hopefully be just enough.
I found the lighting itself at Christmas lightingBuiten.com (how could it be otherwise 🙂) and there I also found extensive explanations about the associated products. Because as said, you are not there with icicle lighting alone. Even though you can easily connect the strands of 3 meters together, you also need a jumper cable and in our case also a splitter and therefore the extension cable. An ordinary extension cable will not work, because the connections must of course fit the strands of the outdoor lighting.
To make sure I had thought it through correctly, I emailed them the photos above. And this is what I got back:
Haha, exactly the right way.
Last Sunday it was time… it was cold outside and we had planned to put on the Christmas lights. Now I have to admit… we didn't start very early but eventually it got dark as you can see in the picture above. Funny detail… if you place the lights on a twilight switch, they will turn on automatically at some point. Every strand that you connect afterwards also gives light immediately, which is so cozy!
When you have made the preparations for the Christmas lights outside (provide power, connect a jumper cable and possibly add a splitter), you can start making meters. We have divided the tasks neatly. Frank on the ladder into the air and I indicate a new strand every time. That in itself went perfectly fine, Frank was the limiting factor on the ladder in terms of time, so I was downstairs waiting part of the time until I could indicate a new strand.
The application itself is not difficult. Make sure you have small hooks that you screw into the wood. You can then hang the strand there. A hook every 1.5-2 meters is sufficient. Fortunately, applying the brackets is a one-time job. Of course you leave it for future years, so that saves time. You then unscrew the cap of the connector from strand A and place the connector from strand B on it.
I noticed at one point that I found the icicle lighting a bit odd and had thought it would be longer. But hubby thought it was fine to make meters (it was also so f*****g cold) and said it was beautiful. And it was. But because I had time to spare, I took another good look at such strict icicle lighting. I still discover that all the strands on the 3 meter long cable have been rolled up one by one! The icicle lighting only comes into its own when you roll them out. Hahaha, how stupid of us. Suddenly I became the limiting factor!
Hint: Unroll the icicle lighting strand on the ground and then unroll the small strands first before attaching the strand to your eaves.
Because it was already getting dark and we wanted to go inside, we have not yet unraveled a part. But we will continue outside this weekend, because we have not yet got around to hanging the Christmas lights at the shed. A job in two parts for us, but that also depends on the number of meters of eaves on our house. Does the overcapacity of the solar panels come in handy 😉 .
Anyway, in the end we have a lot of running meters of lighting and I think we'll postpone the sled for a while;). Do you also have Christmas lights hanging outside and if so… what did you do? Also on a roof edge? Or have you decorated a tree in your garden with, for example, mains lighting? I like it so much too! In any case, we wish everyone wonderful, pleasant days in these dark months.
xxx, Joyce
