Secret holiday hack can spruce up Christmas tree lights

Publish date: 2024-08-27

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This red-nosed bulb isn’t just a spare.

People are just now discovering the real reason there’s an extra holly-hued bulb for your string lights — and it’s not just in case one fizzles out.

In fact, replacing a white bulb with the red one will spruce up your home decor by making the string twinkle, one TikToker revealed in a video posted this month.

RELATED: Shop the best expert-backed outdoor Christmas lights to decorate your home

“I always thought it was an extra light,” content creator Kendra Hagerman wrote on the clip, which showed footage of her Christmas tree adorned with string lights.

“But I just found out that it makes your lights flash.”

The little-known holiday hack for making string lights twinkle is shocking TikTokers. Getty Images

She demonstrated the task of replacing a white bulb with the designated “extra” red light replacement, then showed the lights flash on and off, giving her festive tannenbaum some extra sparkle.

“Did you know about this?!” she exclaimed.

Fellow TikTokers were just as flabbergasted to learn of the little-known “holiday hack” — one user shocked their very merry viewers by demonstrating the trick on a string of house lights.

“I was today years old when I found out what these are for,” the creator, who goes by @VizNelly, wrote on a viral clip with more than 22 million views.

“I thought they were replacement bulbs if one burnt out. Lol,” one surprised user commented.

Many TikTokers believed the red-nosed bulb was simply a replacement should one fizzle out on the strand. TikTok/@kendrafoundit
The content creator revealed that the red bulb actually caused the strand of lights to blink, or twinkle. TikTok/@kendrafoundit

“The blinky lights are nice but having one red bulb would bother me,” complained another, to which one person advised attaching the red bulb somewhere inconspicuous.

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“MY JAW DROPPED,” exclaimed one person.

“Watching a younger generation rediscover 50 year old tech is the same feeling as watching grandparents try Snapchat,” quipped someone else.

“I feel us Gen Xers have failed our youth for not informing them of all these little ‘secrets’ they’re discovering on their own,” another user said.

TikTokers have revealed other decorating tips and tricks to help you sleigh your holiday home decor, such as unique ways to hang tree bulbs and how many firs are necessary for the ultimate Christmas spirit.

This year, influencers are ditching traditional ornaments and adorning their trees with luxurious bows, calling it “cute” yet “simple.”

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