So, you’ve installed all of your mini light sets – let’s say on the front of your house outlining your windows, or you’ve decorated some small trees planted closely together. Everything looks great but egad! you have lights hanging out in the middle of space, marring the perfection of your Christmas light display. Don’t despair! Here are a few tips to avoid this situation.

1. Plan your projects with a wider variety of lengths of lights. By combining short and long sets of mini lights you can more closely tailor your sets to the best length for the run. When you order your lights, make sure that you note whether the light sets have a male/female plug set or just one stackable plug. (Because naturally, if you only have on plug on a set is has to be the last set). Mini lights are commonly wired in series which means that they can’t be cut to fit. C7 and C9 stringer style light sets are wired in parallel and can be cut to fit and properly terminated so they don’t have this issue (get an electrician’s help with this – you know you have a crazy electrician brother-in-law – give him a call.)

2. For just a bulb or two jumping the gap between windows, consider wrapping those bulbs with electrical tape. The success of this plan is going to be dependent on your weather and you own propensity for perfection and tidiness in your Christmas lights display.

3. Paint the extra bulbs. For small indoor projets where you just have a couple of bulbs to hide, paint the bulbs with an acrylic black paint. Messy but effective.

4. Consider purchasing black out caps. These handy little plastic caps fit right over the mini lights you want to take out of your picture. Keep in mind that they only work traditional incandescent string lights – the warmth of the bulbs helps them snug on.

Good luck with all your Holiday and Decorating Projects!