How to Make Holiday Lights With Plastic Cups & Lights

Strings of lights can be modified to make them more colorful and decorative.

Whether it's a spooky Halloween luminary or a festive trail of white candles leading to your door for Christmas, there is something about holiday lights that brings a smile to one's face. While standard holiday lights are festive on their own, adding colored plastic cups to light strands can take an ordinary string and make it extraordinary.

Things You'll Need

• Standard non-heating string of white Christmas lights
• Colored plastic cups
• Sharpie
• Utility knife
• Craft sticks
• Hot glue gun
• Hot glue

Instructions

1. Lay out the light string. Plug it in to inspect for any broken lights.

2. Unplug the strand and remove a bulb from its socket.

3. Set the socket against the bottom of the cup and trace the inside circle so the hole will be just large enough for the bulb to fit through. Use this cup as a guide and trace the circle onto each of the cups you'll be using.

4. Cut out the circles with a utility knife. Be careful not to cut yourself.

5. Unscrew the rest of the bulbs from the strand.

6. Screw the bulbs back into the sockets, placing the cup in between.

7. Create a stand for each bulb socket by making an "x" out of craft sticks and glueing it to the bottom of the socket where the wires feed in and out of the socket.

8. Set the lights up outside, burying the stands in the snow if desired.

Tips & Warnings

• If you want to hang the lights, do not attach the stands.

References

• Dabbled: Halloween Decorations: How To Make Electric Candles