When installing twinkle lights, remember that the best twinkles are natural and come from the light being blocked from view for a quick moment.
Concretely, this means that you should tuck your lights into bushes or Christmas trees or whatever (rather than onto), both to give more of a glow (as the lights illuminate the inner parts of the tree), and to increase the twinkles (if that's what you're into). Similarly, if you have a curtain of lights, you can put a sheer curtain in front, and the more layers/gathers, the stronger the effect of both glow and twinkle.
The opposite looks like this:
While we’re here, I have two Christmas Tree tips:
- The best Christmas tree stand is the Krinner Tree Genie XXL
- In the US, you can harvest your own tree from the national forest!
It just works — no fiddling, no loose parts, it just firmly holds the tree exactly how you want it.
(I see that in 2024 they added an “XXL Deluxe” which is probably also great)
See also my tips on Programmable lighting (I use Christmas lights from Twinkly as part of my everyday decor, but you must be intentional about choosing lights that will give you a nice warm white).