My wife and I were getting ready to host a party in our backyard and agreed that we felt we needed something to really add pizazz. After searching online I found it. Patio string lights.

At first my wife thought I was crazy,  but when I showed her some of the types of lights and accessories available from places like Amazon.com she quickly changed her mind.

If you are like most people you take pride in fixing up your backyard and making it your little sanctuary. You shop for just the right furniture, get the perfect grill and add beautiful landscaping. You want to share that with other people. But when it gets dark most of that effort is hidden in the shadows.

Your choices at that point usually amount to the single back door light, which is either too bright or too dim. A floodlight which is again like being in front of a flash bulb constantly. Or candles that blow out at the least little breeze not to mention that there is always a risk of fire.

That was where we found ourselves. The light would have been too much or too little. After further research I found a lot more options for lighting the backyard with patio string lights.

There are patio string  lights that are about the size of a golf ball and made of glass. Really they are smaller versions of the light bulbs most people have in their homes. There are what is called mini lights which look like and are for the most part Christmas tree lights. LED or light emitting diode lights are another type of patio string light. While led rope lights are not technically speaking string lights, they do deserve a mention.

The first type, the glass bulbs, come in a wide variety of colors to match whatever mood or decor that you have in mind. Patio string lights also can have shades or lanterns added to them to create the right atmosphere. This type of light would work best higher overhead, strung up in tree branches, or perhaps in an elevated grid pattern.

While I kind of liked the larger bulb versions, the fun really began when we started to investigate the mini lights.
Mini lights, which I am more familiar with but had never considered for outdoor use before, have the widest range of cord lengths, colors of bulbs, shades and additional covers of any of the patio string  lights that I checked out. Save-on-crafts.com has a terrific site with lots of inspiring mini light ideas and some really interesting lighting products.

Of course you have the traditional paper lanterns and shades, but there are also fun themed clip on covers as well. I found sports and food related covers. There are fishing and camping covers available, with little fish, lures and tiny campers.Which by the way isn’t a bad idea for dressing up our campers awning next summer.

If you look around you will also notice that some mini patio lights are battery operated. A great idea for those places and situations where cords are inconvenient or impossible. Again this is perfect for camping if you tent camp and want some light to highlight your site. oogalights.com has a nice selection of battery operated patio string lights as well as themed lights.

Led string lights are small in size like mini lights but have the added benefits of being cool to the touch and they consume less energy. Something to consider if you have small children around or are energy conscious. The life span of most led lights is longer than regular bulbs. A big plus if you use them long term.

Finally rope lighting. This kind of light as I mentioned before isn’t really a string but with it’s popularity and flexibility you might want to consider it for accenting architectural features like doorways and windows. Or even use it in conjunction with a frame work to create some sort of decoration. Santa and his reindeer comes to mind, or perhaps a Halloween pumpkin maybe. Your imagination may be the only limit to what you can create. I found a place online that has more information on led rope lights appropriately called Ledropelightsand more.com. It is worth a look.

We finally, after much searching and deliberation decided on mini patio string  lights with paper lantern covers. Mostly because it fit the theme of our party and created just the right ambiance. The soft glow allowed everyone to see well enough to move around while not blinding anyone with glare.

A couple of other online places that had good information and selection of patio string lights were Amazon.com,  Target.com and PartyLights. Go check them out.

Something to think about when deciding how many and where to put your patio string  lights is the need of and placement of extension cords. Routing the cords may not be a problem but just keep in mind that you will be using these lights at night and cords tend to snag feet. Always inspect your extension cords thoroughly for cracks, cuts and bare wires before you plug them in. If in doubt replace them it is not worth your or someone else ‘s life. Stop by www.cpsc.gov for more information on extension cord safety.

While you can buy replacement extension cords at your neighborhood home centers like Home Depot, Lowes and Ace hardware, you may want to check out this website I found on extension cords,  buyextensioncord.com. They seemed to have quite a bit of information on cords which will help in deciding which cord to buy for your patio string lights.

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