Are you a Grinch when it comes to hanging christmas lights?  Hate doing it as it takes too long or you do not like getting on the roof?  Well, I am in the same boat –  but I love how they look on the house and the kids love them!
A few years ago I had a Christmas Light bulb go off in my head.  I have worked on this idea for about 3 years now and I think I finally have it ifgured out.
Here is how I put Christmas light up now!
With zip-ties, PVC, and J-hooks!  Say what?  Well, here is how it all works.
You will need (besides your christmas lights)
–  1/2” PVC Electrical Conduit 10′ Secions
–  Zinc Plated 5 1/16 x 3” J-Hook and bolt  (3 hooks per 10′ section)
–  Zinc Plated 5/16” Nylon lock nuts (1 lock nut per j-hook)
–  Outdoor Zip Ties (lots!)


The electrical conduit PVC pipe is perfect because it is flared at one end which allows you to connect the pipes end-to-end once you hang them.  This help to keep them blowing or falling down.

After you have your PVC pipe, you need to drill three holes in each 10′ section.  We did our fist about 8”-12” from the end and then at the 5′ half-way mark.
As for the hole size, find your closest drill-bit that matches the bolt for this.  Just make sure the pipe is warm when drilling, a cold pipe will crack (trust me). What we wound up having to do is drill a smaller hole and then ream it out a bit until the bolt fit.  It was a cold day, so that was what worked for us.

 
What you do is zip-tie your lights to the 1/2” PVC Pipe

Quick not on SAFETY here.  With the Zip Ties, use a Tie Gun to cut off the ends. A  Tie Gun is made to cut the zip-ties safely and not leave any sharp edges.
I picked this one up at Home Depot a few years back, but you can get them on Amazon too –  link

When you are done, they should look kinda like this:

One you have all your lights mounted, you can install the hooks on the PVC.  What you do is use the nut that comes with the hook for the top part, and the nylon nut for the bottom.  This allows you to adjust the height of the PVC on the hook if need be.  The Nylon nut on the bottom locks the PVC pipe on since the Nylon nuts are the locking type.

Once you have everything together, you just hang the 10′ PVC sections on your gutter and connect the PVC pipes end to end

The hooks I used fit my gutter perfectly –  so these won’t be going anywhere! There is a good overhang on the inside of the gutter.

 
This is what a compelted section looks like on my top gutter –  took about 15 seconds to actually hang this section.

Here is a pic of the final product: (we use roof shingle hooks to hang the PVC off where we do not have gutters)

 
What is also great, they are easy to take down and store.  No untangling wires in anymore, nice and easy!
 
This idea is (C) Jeffrey Fry 2013