Decorate your Christmas tree with animated Christmas lights

Are you one of those people who keeps a box of tired old tinsel and broken fairy lights that you try to revive every Christmas? Perhaps you buy a new box of baubles and some new tinsel to improve the selection. But instead of decorations, you could switch to simple strings of animated Christmas lights instead. Just lights - but not old-fashioned incandescent lights that use up electricity. Instead why not look at solar powered Christmas lights?

By choosing solar Christmas lights that are animated, you can create the most amazing effects. And it’s really simple to do. They come on a rope (or string) that incorporates either 50 or 102 super-bright LED bulbs encased in plastic. This makes them flexible, but safe, and they look absolutely gorgeous wound through the branches of a Christmas tree, whether the tree is real or not.

Animated Christmas lights come in different lengths, depending on the number of LEDs they contain. A 23 foot string with 50 LEDs measures 16.5 feet light-to-light, while a 39 foot string with 102 LEDs measures 33 feet light-to-light. And they really aren’t expensive either, and they’re widely available. You can even order them off the Internet. Check our selection of solar string lights and solar rope lights

Because these string lights are solar powered, they have a light sensor that automatically turns them on at dusk and off at dawn when the sun comes up. During the day the sunlight recharges the battery, which means you’ll need to place your Christmas tree near a window where it will get some light, and not tucked in a dark and dingy corner. Otherwise the lights will go out when the batteries run out. Remember that solar light batteries charge best in direct sunlight, but they will still charge on a cloudy day. Ideally they should be exposed to sunlight (the brighter the better) for at least three hours a day. More on solar string lights

But how are they animated?

Animated Christmas lights blink, twinkle or flash, depending on the type. This adds a sense of movement and excitement. They come in a selection of colors - white, red, green and blue, that you can mix if you wish. You might prefer to decorate your tree with one color only. Or perhaps you want to stick to the traditional Christmas color theme and opt for red and green. All the options will create a really pretty scene.

You can also use animated Christmas lights to decorate the living room. If you’ve got a fireplace waiting for Santa, string lights round the front of it. String lights around the front door as well, to welcome friends and family. You can also use outdoor Christmas lights in the garden and on the patio to increase the sense of Christmas spirit. Because they are encased in plastic, they won’t be harmed by moisture even if it rains or snows. More on outdoor animated Christmas lights

Animated Christmas lights come in different shapes and sizes including stars, snowflakes, snowmen, Christmas trees and little angels – all perfect for the Christmas tree. More on outdoor solar lights