Is there a way to keep the Christmas lights wire nicely?

[Ashleigh]

I want to pull out my hair whenever I put up and take down the tree. I'm ok with everything except the way the wire entangles. It's so irritating! How do you fold/store it so that it's easy to put up the wires the following year? Thank you .

 

[JewelFreak]

You can buy spools for them. I've seen them in catalogs & probably available at Lowe's or Home Depot, etc. Or look in a harware store for spools sold for other purposes. Those lights do make a mess!

Or there's this suggestion from Good Housekeeping:

Wind unwieldy strings of lights around coffee cans. Cut an X in the plastic top, and stick the plug through. Label each string with masking tape and a marker to remind you which lights go on the tree and which go around the door.

 

[monarch64]

My husband uses those little twist ties that come with garbage bags to keep the lights together once he winds them up, and then he stores each individual strand in its own plastic bag. It works.

 

[Ashleigh]

JF, Monarch, thanks for the suggestions.

 

[Snicklefritz]

We roll up newspaper (like it comes when it's thrown onto your lawn) and wrap the lights around that. Keeps them tangle-free every time.

 

[NewShiny]

I loop them around in a circle then put 4-5 pieces of leftover curling ribbon around the circle of lights to keep them untangled. Works every year.

 

[Sparklelu]

I saw this on Pinterest last year and used the system last year and it worked well. I taped one end to one side then wrapped till they were full. Try not to overlap the strands and they stack really nicely in a big plastic bin.

 

[Lady_Disdain]

I saw this on Pinterest last year and used the system last year and it worked well. I taped one end to one side then wrapped till they were full. Try not to overlap the strands and they stack really nicely in a big plastic bin.

That is how I organize them as well. Works like a charm: easy to store, easy to put them up next year.

 

[Ashleigh]

Thanks for all your suggestions. They are really helpful. I don't know why I allow myself to live with entangled wires for so long. I always put up the tree very late as I procrastinate whenever I think of the wires. And am also always reluctant to take the lights down.