Tips for Safely Decorating for the Holidays

Believe it or not, many injuries happen each year due to unsafe holiday decorating. Fortunately, however, most of these injuries can be avoided by taking safety precautions.

When holiday decorations are not put up or used properly, many safety hazards arise. Keep these tips in mind to stay safe when decorating for this holiday season:

Decorating Trees

Live Trees

If you use a live tree at your home, cut the trunk to expose the fresh wood. This allows the tree to better absorb water and keeps it looking better in throughout the holiday season.

Fresh trees are less of a fire hazard when compared to dry trees. You can tell if your tree is fresh if the needles are difficult to pull off the branches.

Fake Trees

Fake trees are popular for their reusability year after year. However, many of them contain artificial materials that can catch fire if not placed in a safe location within the home.

If you use a fake tree, make sure it is fire resistant. Keep it away from sources of heat like fireplaces, radiators, and other similar objects to prevent it from catching fire.

Candles

Everyone loves a nice, warm-scented candle for the holiday season. As we know, though, candles maintain a constantly burning flame when lit.

Before lighting your favorite winter candle, make sure that it is in a safe place and out of reach from children, pets, or other flammable objects. Don’t forget to blow out your candles before going to bed or leaving your house, either. According to the American Red Cross, the most home candle fires occur in the month of December.

Lights

Decorative lights are a defining tradition for many families around the United States during the holiday season. Unfortunately, if not handled properly, they can also become a safety risk.

Before stringing up your favorite lights, check the bulbs, connections, and wires. Replace anything that appears broken, frayed, bare, or loose. These non-secure warning signs could indicate a potential safety hazard when plugged in.

It is also important to not connect too many strands of lights together. As a general rule, no more than three sets of lights should be connected to a single extension cord.

Use Outdoor-Safe Lights

When you’re ready to string up your favorite lights on the outside of your home, make sure you are using ones that are designed for outdoor use. These often contain sturdier materials that are designed to withstand the elements more easily than ones made for decorating your home’s interior.

Also pay attention to where you are plugging these lights in. Be sure to connect them to plugs that are off of the ground to avoid soaking them in puddles or snow.

Tips for Your Other Favorite Holiday Decor

Each family has different traditions that they use to celebrate the holidays. If you are using any of these other types of holiday decor at your home this year, keep these safety tips in mind.

Decorating with Festive Plants

Do you decorate your home with plants like mistletoe, holly berries, amaryllis, or other similar plants? These can be poisonous to people or animals. Make sure to keep them out of reach from pets and small children.

Ladder Safety

If you use a ladder to decorate the inside or outside of your home, make sure that it is sturdy enough to bear your weight while you’re on it. If it is shaky or feels uneven, consider replacing it so that you do not risk falling and injuring yourself.

When climbing a tall ladder to decorate the outside of your home, ask someone else to spot you to keep the ladder extra-sturdy. Should you fall, someone will know immediately and can call emergency services.

Decorating Around the Fireplace

Fireplaces house large flames and generate a great deal of heat. Decorating your mantle might be one of your favorite winter activities, but it can also quickly become dangerous if the materials you’re using are not managed or placed properly.

If you are using stockings or other similar cloth as a decoration, remove them from your mantle before lighting your fireplace. These fabrics can quickly light on fire and can result in the rest of the home burning.

Testing Smoke Alarms

Test your smoke alarms regularly and replace batteries as soon as possible if necessary. Smoke detectors are your first line of defense for fire safety. If they are not working, you may not even know that a fire is happening in another part of your home.

Wishing You a Happy and Safe Holiday from Royal Plus

We hope you have a happy and safe holiday season this winter! Keep these safety tips in mind to help you enjoy this time of year even more.