# Those dang icicle lights **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 17, 2003, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-dang-icicle-lights/219496 "2003-12-17T07:35:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-dang-icicle-lights/219496/1 "2003-12-17T07:35:20Z")
How do you hang those icicle lights that are so popular today? I’d like to hang them on two of our gables. First I thought about drilling eyelet screws, but we have vinyl siding and I don’t think putting holes in siding is a good idea. Then I tried duct tape. It looked ugly on the siding, and it wouldn’t stick to the shingles on the roof. I understand that clips are used to hang the lights along the gutters, but I’m trying to decorate the gables, not the gutters. Also, how do you get the strings to hang down straight? Mine are all kinked up from being packaged. ---
**Author:** ![Ryle\_Dup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Ryle\_Dup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ryle_Dup)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-dang-icicle-lights/219496/2 "2003-12-17T07:43:32Z")
Get a plank of wood, hang lights down and staple the lights to the wood, place the piece of wood in your gutters and voila. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-dang-icicle-lights/219496/3 "2003-12-17T08:01:14Z")
**Ryle Dup** , please re-read the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-dang-icicle-lights/219496/4 "2003-12-17T08:32:14Z")
Regarding getting the strings to hang straight, I think they’re _supposed_ to be crooked. I spent a lot of effort straightening one 6 foot strand and it ended up looking funny. All the others I’ve seen are crooked and they look better to my and my wife’s eyes. It seems like they’re made to be crooked with the alternating lights on each side of the strand. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-dang-icicle-lights/219496/5 "2003-12-17T13:21:08Z")
I think you can get clips that fit in between the gable and the shingles. They clip to the outer edge of the shingle. And yes, they’re all crooked. Once they hang for a day or two, they straighten out a bit, but from the street, they look okay. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-dang-icicle-lights/219496/6 "2003-12-17T13:43:16Z")
I just hung these for the first time this year, around our gables. **BiblioCat** is right, they sell these plastic clips that are quite versatile and, depending on orientation, can be clipped either to your gutter or to the shingles overhanging your gables. I think I bought a box of a couple hundred at Walgreens - they’re similar to the ones at the bottom of [this page](http://www.ezupfasttrax.com/luext.htm). ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-dang-icicle-lights/219496/7 "2003-12-17T13:50:35Z")
On gable ends you could even use plastic clothespins if you fiund the clips hard to find. ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-dang-icicle-lights/219496/8 "2003-12-17T17:50:17Z")
I put up some of those this year, and used the little plastic clips on the gables. They’re cheap and work well. What I had a hard time with were the gutters. I have screens covering the gutters, so the clips you buy for them don’t work, because the holes in the metal screen are too small. I used the little metal hooks that tree ornaments hang on, and bent them into the shape I need, but it was a pain. Any recommendations? ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-dang-icicle-lights/219496/9 "2003-12-17T20:16:29Z")
I didn’t know the clips work on shingles, too. Off I go to buy some. Thanks!