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How to make your own damage free twinkle light wall (and not poke your wall full of holes while doing it). Holiday lighting tutorial with 3m Command Strips.
Stringing up holiday lights has always been one of those seasonal tasks that people tend to dread. Nobody wants to risk the welfare of their thumbs by swinging a hammer around while standing outside on a chilly ladder. Command™ Outdoor Light Clips provide a hammer-free solution that helps take the sting out of what can sometimes be a daunting job. These temporary light clips make hanging holiday lights as easy as using a sticker, leaving your siding (and your thumbs) damage-free.
I was invited to try out Command™ Outdoor Light Clips for this post and decided to make a striped holiday light wall on the side of my house’s garage. I used icicle lights to give my stripes plenty of depth, and alternated clear and multi-colored lights to match the ceramic lights we already had up around the eaves. We used 19 foot strings of light which fit into our space just right. This project would look great with any combination of lighted stripes. Try using your favorite sport team colors, classic holiday colors like blue and white or red and green, or make yourself a holiday light rainbow!
How to Make a Striped Holiday Light Wall
You’ll need:
- 4 19-foot / 300 Light Strands of Icicle lights
- 40 Command™ Outdoor Light Clips
- Tape Measure
- Pencil
Directions
- First you’ll need to measure and mark the area where you plan to hang your lights. Start out by measuring an 18-foot span of your wall, and putting a pencil mark on each side so you’ll remember where your rows should begin and end. Next, Measure 24 inches from the top of the wall, and make a mark at the beginning and of each row.
- Now that you have the left, right, and top sides of the area marked out, you can start planning your rows and marking the spots where you will be placing your Command™ Outdoor Light Clips. Find the top left mark, and double check that the mark is placed 24 inches from the top of the wall. Make a second mark twelve inches below this one, and then another 12 inches below that, and a last mark 12 inches below that. This should give you four marks total.
- Go back to the top mark and measure 24 inches to the right. Make a mark, and double check that this mark is 24 inches from the top of the wall. Double checking this measurement each time you start a new line of four marks will make sure that your rows are evenly placed. Make your next three marks 12 inches apart from the other, then repeat these steps until you have 10 lines of marks on your wall. To sum up, you’ll be placing the Command™ Outdoor Light Clips 24 inches apart horizontally, and 12 inches apart vertically.
- Once your spots are all marked, go back and clean and dry the spots well to prepare the areas for your Command™ Outdoor Light Clips. You may need to replace the pencil marks after the area has been cleaned.
- To apply the clips, peel the paper marked “wall” from the adhesive strip and place the sticky side down on the wall. Hold the strip in place for about 30 seconds, then remove the paper marked with the Command™ Brand pattern. Stick the clip (open side up) onto the sticky surface of the strip and press firmly. Repeat with remaining clips, then wait for 1 hour before stringing lights.
- String lights in alternating rows of color, using the 6 inch slack at each end to connect to the following row. Place an extension cord on the plug end of your lights to illuminate.
I shopped for my Command™ Outdoor Light Clips at my local Walmart. I found this display packed with Command™ Brand products in the seasonal/outdoor holiday section. All in all they were very easy to work with and my husband was relieved to find out that I had not poked any holes in the house while putting the lights up. An added bonus to using Command™ Outdoor Light Clips over nails or tacks is that they are very easy to remove, move, or replace. This comes in handy if you make a mistake or if you simply change your mind and want to decorate in a different way.
Command™ Brand also offers a wide range of products that can help you decorate for the holidays indoors. Look for their hooks and strips to help hang your holiday artwork, garlands, and mobiles. Click here to find more great ideas for using Command™ Brand products.