How to Frame a Window With Christmas Lights

Framing a window in lights looks beautiful from inside and out on a cold, dark winter night.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Finishing Nails
• U Nails
• Strings Of String Lights
• Hammers
• Hammers

1. Measure your window and decide how many and what kind of lights you want.

2. Buy whatever you don't already have - and don't forget that you'll probably need an extension cord.

3. Join the strands together and plug them in (with an extension cord, if you're using one) so you can figure out how they're going to reach their power source.

4. Unplug the cord for safety.

5. Drape the lights over and around the window and figure out how you're going to keep them there. If there's a curtain rod, you're in luck; otherwise, you'll need to tap small finishing nails at intervals along the top - one at each corner and one in the middle might do it if the window's not too big.

6. Hook the light cord over and around the curtain rod, or over the nails.

7. Use u nails (two-pronged nails in the shape of a "u") to secure the lights underneath the window. Be careful not to nail through the cord.

8. Plug the lights in.

Resources

• Santa Claus Mail
• Christmas Recipes

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on 11/22/2005 I staple baggie ties approximately 12 inches apart before I put up the lights, then I twist the tie around the light strand at each spot. After the holidays, I remove the ties and leave the staples, so that I can put new ties into them next year. I have also tried this outdoors. It is fast, easy, and cheap!

on 11/22/2005 3M now has a package that offers a person the ease of hanging lights without putting in any nails or having to rely on the curtain rods. It works essentially like their other products where there is a type of putty that sticks to a surface without, in theory, damaging it. I was very pleased to see them on the Internet on the 3M website as I have to decorate an eight foot bay window and did not want to use any nails to mess up the wood casings.

on 11/22/2005 I found www.window-wonder.com, where you put the frame together and put your lights on the frame. You leave the frame intact and lights on it and put them away. Then the next year you simply put the frame in your window. I love my window wonder frames because it takes me minutes to decorate my 6 windows now!

on 11/22/2005 I've used scotch tape for a long time to put lights around the window pane (as opposed to the frame). It works best if the window is freshly cleaned, although moisture can sometimes undo the effort. I suspect that using good tape (versus dollar-store tape) works better.

on 11/22/2005 Trusty duct tape also works for those difficult areas where the lights won't conform to the window, especially in hidden corners and edges.