Are outdoor lights only for Christmas? No way! You can dress up your yard way more often, adding sparkle and fun to your neighborhood holiday celebrations. Speaking of sparkle, of course, it’s me again, your friendly light savvy elf Sparkle! I snuck away from the North Pole for a few hours of sun here in beautiful Gainesville, Florida. And of course, while I was here my friends at Twinkle Nights asked me to share a little bit about their current focus, Halloween lighting!
Wait what? I know, I know, Christmas lights for Halloween sound a little funny when you first say it, but trust us, it’s a wonderful, sparkly idea! In fact, the team at Twinkle Nights has been helping homeowners across the region hang Halloween lights for quite a while now. So, let’s look closer at how you can make your house scream “Boo!” on Halloween night!
What colors should you use for a Halloween display?
The color of your Halloween lights will obviously differ from those that you hang at Christmas. While you may choose to use red and green lights in your display, typically you aren’t going to want to have them near each other. Common choices for lighting colors are purple, green, blue, orange, and white. Together, these will help set the stage for an epic Halloween display that’ll leave the kiddos ready to come back next year!
The color of Halloween lights will obviously depend on the type of displays you use. Some people love going all out, including fake (I hope!) tombstones, lots of spider webs, and even some highly detailed animatronics. No matter what kind of display you have, you’ll want to make certain that the light choice complements it in a fun way.
Halloween displays with Christmas lights
Christmas lights can be used to create an amazing Halloween lighting display that will be the envy of your neighbors. It just takes a little bit of creative thinking to figure out how to use them. As I mentioned a little bit ago, you may choose to use red and green — common Christmas colors — as a part of your Halloween display.
How exactly? Well, red can sometimes mean danger, right? While red with a beautifully lit Christmas tree can be elegant, red lights around a skeleton can make you think twice about walking up on the porch. And if you’re going for the spookiest environment possible, red Christmas lights can make your Halloween displays feel particularly eerie.
Green lights can also work too — after all, witches are green (at least the bad witch from The Wizard of Oz was green!) If your Halloween displays have one or more witches, broomsticks, or even cauldrons, then a green halo effect using your green Christmas light strands can really help it stand out. And if you have a couple of skeletons in your yard, backlighting them with green Christmas lights will help take their presence to the next level.
Where to put holiday lights for Halloween
When planning where to place lights for your Halloween display, take your non-lit decorations and areas into account as well. Is your street a hot spot on Trick or Treat night? Consider lighting your driveway and sidewalks for safety as kids are running from house to house. Plus, you can easily create spooky shadows with carefully placed lights and draw attention to pumpkins and other decors by using mini lights at their base.
Here’s a thought for those bushes around the front of your house. Try adding some purple lights around them. It’ll create an eerie effect as the trick or treaters make their way up to your front porch or door. For an added bonus, try placing some blue lights close to the ground, say below the bushes or near your foundation.
And I know how much you love to light your outside trees at Christmas, so why not do the same thing at Halloween? Purple and green lights can really make your house feel like it’s full of the Christm…I mean, Halloween Spirit!
The best lights for Halloween
The best lights for Halloween are going to be the ones that are rated for outdoor use. You can’t just go to any old retail store and buy lights that you would put on your Christmas tree. Off-the-shelf components can also come with a variety of quality concerns: you don’t want to have your lights fall off, go out, or otherwise quit working during the middle of the season. Strong, capable C9 bulbs are the way to go (and of course, be sure to select LED lights no matter what to save on power usage).
How to hang Halloween lights
Before you can hang Halloween lights, you’ll also (just like with Christmas lights) want to make certain that you have the right kind of power. Unlike Christmas lights (where people often view them from their cars), Halloween lights are going to involve lots of trick-or-treaters and their parents walking around. In this case, you’ll want to minimize extension cords as much as possible, opting to have sidewalks 100% clear.
Hanging lights should also involve the use of high-grade clips that can withstand the (sometimes seasonable unpredictable) Florida weather. Following natural edges and lines of your house, just as you would with Christmas lights, is a great way to pull together your otherwise otherworldly displays throughout your yard or on your porch.
Turn to the professionals
Now, I forgot my sunscreen so I better scoot before I’m as red as my clothes! Although the tips I gave you today can help you do a little bit of DIY work, for the best displays you’ll want to turn to the professionals. And of course, by the professionals I mean my friends — the crew at Twinkle Nights. They sure know their stuff and can help you plan the best-looking Halloween displays you’ve ever seen.
Just don’t wait — Halloween is right around the corner. Be sure to contact them ASAP so that they can get you on their calendar.
Until next time my friends!
Here are some other resources to help light up your holiday season!
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