Holiday Decorating Tips

Attach wires with clothes pins
Instead of poking nails into aluminum soffits and fascia when you're hanging holiday lights, clip the wires to the bottom lips of the fascia with clothespins.

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Bath rug makes hanging lights easy
Here's a great way to rotate your tree in its stand—without scratching up your hardwood floor. Put a bath rug underneath the tree stand, fabric side down, rubber side up. You can easily turn the tree to string your lights and place your ornaments just where you want them.  Fold the rug under the tree skirt to keep it hidden.

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Use a drill instead of your hand
Tightening tree-stand nuts by hand is tiring and takes forever. Try this, our favorite Christmas tree hint from our archives: Cut off the little L's at the end of the tree stand bolts with a hacksaw. Chuck the ends of the bolts into a variable-speed drill and tighten them into the trunk. Your tree will be secure, and you can get out from underneath the tree and get decorating.
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Screw the tree stand to a wood base
If you've had trees fall over - here's an easy solution: Cut a 2-ft.-diameter circle out of plywood, screw your tree stand to it and then staple plastic sheeting to the plywood. The wooden base will give your tree solid footing. The plastic let's you slide the tree around on the carpet for easy decorating and protects the carpet from any watering spills.

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Store artificial tree in concrete form tubes
Do you like the convenience of an artificial tree but dislike storing it because it takes up so darn much space? Try this idea. Use two 8-in.- diameter concrete form tubes, wrap each layer of the tree in twine and store half the tree layers in one tube and half in the other. Mark the layer numbers on each tube and stow the tubes in your garage rafters. A perfect solution!
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Store light strings on a hose reel
If you love decorating your house with tons of lights inside and out, here’s a great idea. To keep all the lights from getting tangled, roll the strings of lights onto a portable hose reel that has wheels and a handle. You’ll be able to pull the lights around your yard and roll off as many as you need.

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Use picnic tablecloth clips to attach lights
Try using plastic picnic tablecloth clips to attach Christmas lights to your deck railing. It makes putting them up and taking them down a cinch!

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Duct-tape layers together and label
Artificial Christmas trees are assembled in color-coded layers. After a few years, the colors rub off .  Try this simple trick. When you disassemble the tree at the end of the season, do it one level at a time. Once all the branches from one level are off, duct-tape them together and number each layer with a marker.

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Zip ties are easy and inexpensive
Zip ties are a simple way to string holiday lights on banisters and fences without marring the railing with nail marks. A pack of 20 zip ties costs $1.60 at home centers. You'll find them in the electrical supplies aisle. After the holidays, snip the ties off with scissors.

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Keep water corralled with a snow saucer
A plastic snow saucer, the kind with the flat area in the center ($6 at discount stores), is great for keeping overflowing Christmas tree water from staining your floor. Place a carpet remnant under the saucer to prevent scratches on wood flooring.

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Keep tape and ribbon handy
Do you keep all your tape, twine and ribbon spools in a drawer? That can look messy, waste a lot of space and make it hard to find things. Try this great organizing idea. Screw a paper towel holder to the window trim in your craft room.

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Store spools on a paper towel holder
Stick rolls of the things you use most often on the holder. You'll know right where everything is, and you can pull off the amount you need without the spool jumping out of your hand and rolling across the floor.

Photo Credit: The Family Handyman