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Hang string lights the way that lasts

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1It started as a fire-safety upgrade

Electric holiday lighting exists because candles on a tree were a genuine hazard; once electric bulbs replaced candles, decorative light strings spread far beyond the original Christmas-tree use into everyday outdoor decoration year-round.

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2Two different products get called 'string lights'

Classic string lights are individual bulbs wired at intervals along a cord — the catenary-swag look. Rope lights are a different product: small lights linked together and encased in a continuous PVC jacket, sometimes called 'soft neon,' better suited to outlining an edge (a railing, a step) than swagging overhead.

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3Pick the family by the job, not the look alone

A swag overhead between two posts wants classic bulb-on-a-cord string lights, which drape naturally into a catenary curve. Outlining a deck edge, stair nosing or planter rim wants rope light's continuous, bendable line instead.

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