Christmas Lighting Ideas, Styles and Choices

A Variety of New Options For Indoor and Outdoor Christmas Lights

Oct 30, 2009

From hanging sphere lights to novelty lights to bubble lights, here are some great products and ideas for your Christmas or holiday lighting.

Whether looking for outdoor holiday lights or indoor and Christmas tree lighting, there are a variety of new Christmas lights available. Here are some of the best holiday lights ideas for this season.

Sphere Lights

These are balls anywhere from 6 to 10 inches in diameter, covered in mini lights. They can be used indoors or outdoors and hang from ceilings or tree branches so they look like they are lights suspended in mid air. They come in a variety of bright colors and some even with twinkle lights.

Christmas Bubble Lights

Bubble lights are cool because the bottom is a ball and the light itself is a clear candle shape filled with colored water and bubbles are generated inside it when the lights are on, creating movement. They can be used both indoors or outdoors, usually as Christmas tree lighting, and a light string typically contains more than one color of lights.

Christmas Novelty Lights

Novelty lights are perfect for either your indoor Christmas tree or outside to decorate a porch railing or doorway. There are so many types available including crystal snowflakes, holly berries (where the berry lights up), colored pine cones, white doves, and chili peppers. Some of these novelty lights are for indoor use only so be sure to check the restrictions.

Net or Ribbon Lights

These mini lights are perfect for decorating trees or shrubs because they are literally a net of mini lights that can just be wrapped around an object. The ribbon lights are usually about 12 inches wide whereas the net lights are more like a 4 foot by 6 foot sheet of lights. As such, they set up quickly and easily and the lights are evenly distributed.

Curtain Lights

These lights are not connected in the same way as ribbon or net lights, but rather hanging strings of lights, connected to a top wire, similar to icicle lights but much longer and even in length. Available for indoor or outdoor use, they are ideal as Christmas window lights, or to light up a doorway or a porch opening.

Christmas Rope Lights

Rope lights are single lights on a rope usually 12 to 18 feet long. With rope lights, the lights are continuous with no gaps in between. They can be used to line rain gutters or porch railings or wrapped around pillars or lamp posts. They come in a variety of colors and there are even rope lights that transform, turning one color and then slowly fading into another.

Lighted Branches

Lighted branches are plastic tree branches whose clear acrylic leaves illuminate a beautiful white light. They are for indoor use only and ideal for putting in vases or planters to light up a Christmas arrangement. The branches are even bendable making them easier to arrange.

There are a variety of both indoor and outdoor holiday light options available. All of these are typically available as LED Christmas lights, which use less energy and last longer.

The copyright of the article Christmas Lighting Ideas, Styles and Choices in Holiday Entertaining is owned by Gail Oliver. Permission to republish Christmas Lighting Ideas, Styles and Choices in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.