Get Your Christmas Lights Ready for Spring

A strand of colored lights adds something magical to frozen gutters and chilly dorms before Christmas.

But a few months later, spring fever takes hold, and Christmas lights are out of place. They belong to the season we’re so glad is ending!

I hated to take my lights down, because the walls were pretty bare without them. But I also hated my room looking like December when I was ready for spring.

Fortunately, I discovered some possibilities for using Christmas lights to decorate more creatively.

You can use fake flowers, tissue paper, or even egg cartons to transform a strand of lights.

That’s what I wanted to do. But I didn’t have tissue paper or egg cartons – or a lot of time or money to spend on this project.

Here’s my solution. (And one suggestion: Hang the lights first, so you can place the flowers where you want them. Also, make sure your lights aren’t going to be a fire hazard with paper on them.)

Start with some lightweight paper. I used colorful ads for a bright, random effect.

You could also use wrapping paper, newspaper, origami paper, or anything else about that thickness.

Fold the paper up (it doesn’t matter how) until it’s about this big. Or until it’s half as big as you want your flowers.

Hold the folded side toward yourself.

Cut the other three edges so you have a rough semi-circle.

Then cut narrow triangles away from the folded edge.

Do this on both sides, but make sure you leave the middle intact (about the width of your thumb).

Then cut two more narrow triangles out of the rounded edge, pointing toward the folded center.

When you unfold the paper, you’ll have a stack of small flowers.

Separate the pieces. One at a time, push them onto the lights. (No cutting necessary – just stab the light through the center of your paper.)

This method makes dozens of flowers with only a few cuts, so you can decorate a long strand of lights very quickly.

Mission accomplished. This took little time and no money.

The flowers make the strand of lights much more attractive in the daytime. And even when I plug them in, it doesn’t feel like winter.

And they go so well with my newspaper lamps!

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