About three years ago while enjoying my favorite pasttime with my father, I got frustrated about not knowing exactly how to hang the lights as we did the year before. The year before, they were perfect, and now, I could barely tell my crystals from my icicles. So I came up with the idea of putting all the strands in separate bags, labeling the bags corresponding to where they belong on the house, and labeled where all the strands connected to eachother. It was a lot of work, but a labor of love, because christmas lights are like my thing.

So now when I hang the lights every year, it takes about an hour (as long as I have a strand feeder/detangler). One year, when I was about 15, my folks were out of town, and George was busy taking snaps in the backyard, so I had to hang them myself. It took a really long time, but luckily, I had no job or any responsibilities, so what was there to be trippin on?

I leave you with my legacy:

1. Put up the lights just the way you want them. Remember to test each strand before hanging it. There is nothing more frustrating than putting up a dead strand.
2. Take a picture. It will last longer. Seriously.
3. Draw in Sharpie, lines across all the connecting outlet plugs. Write letters next to the plugs so you know which lights belong to eachother once they are disconnected.
4. When taking them down, put them in a bag labeled with their placement on the house. For instance “Pole 1” (featured on the left in the photo).
5. Put everything you need (including spare bulbs/fuses) into the same bin for next year.