Time to Check the Lights

It's time to check off another item on my Christmas planning list. The holiday lights! The reason I check lights this early in the season is because it is something that CAN be done ahead of decorating. We have had many years where we would pull out some strands of lights thinking we could throw them on the tree only to find out they didn't work. That just puts a big damper on the whole decorating process, so I now try to avoid it.

Our Christmas decorations are stored in our garage now that we don't have a basement. The first step was open our Christmas bins to see where we stand with lights. 

I found the light strand for the main tree in the first bin I opened. Do you see how I store the lights in bags? This particular bag is from a set of sheets. Since strands for lights can be different lengths I like to mark what the lights are for. 

The rest of the lights were in their own bin with extension cords. Oh I guess there was an artificial wreath on the top, too.  I brought it over to an outlet to start checking the status of each one. 

The first one out was a bit disappointing. It seems half of it was burnt out. I did try to lengthen it to see if the rest would come on. The answer is no. That strand was for bushes outside. And we do have larger bushes here, so I'm not sure we'll put lights on out there. But for now I know it doesn't work.

The package of lights marked for our main tree worked! That means I could decorate the tree any day now. Although we usually wait until after Thanksgiving. I expect that will be the plan this year as well.

Both packages of the girls colored lights worked well, too. 

The lights for our second tree did not. I think part of why some of these strands are not working is that they are old. I inherited quite a few from my parents when they were downsizing. I did at least get a little use out of each strand. 

We have these globe lights that we haven't used in at least four years. You would think I would have decluttered them, but I really like them. I checked them last year too and had to get rid of one strand because so many bulbs were burnt out. This year I thought I had some burnt out, but those bulbs just needed to be tighten in. All of them work! I'd like to see if these work on our front porch this year. 

I didn't take pictures of all the light strands, but the final verdict is three strands were duds. And the bonus for checking on our lights early is that I can get them recycled at Home Depot through November 15. Go here for more information and coupon offers. The coupons might help sway me to some new LED lights which are more energy efficient. I just have to find the one with the right glow!

Do you check your lights early? Will you? Have you switch to LED lights? Do you have a method for storing your lights to keep them from getting tangled? What else have you checked off your Christmas list?