Christmas is over, the New Year is here and it is time to take down the outdoor Christmas lights. If your lights are just out of reach and you don’t want to pull out the ladder, here is a great way to take down your outdoor Christmas lights. Use a hockey stick. A hockey stick is perfect because it is long and it has a curved bit at the end.
If you don’t have a hockey stick you can use another stick or broom. But really, you should consider purchasing a hockey stick for this task 
The trick is to hold one of the of lights while you lift the part is attached to your house, eaves, etc. If you have the lights stapled to your house this probably won’t work and you will need a ladder.
This works well for taking the lights down around your house and also on any trees you might have the lights on. I just save myself a lot of time by using this trick to remove the lights around the garage and on a maple tree in the front of the house.
Just make sure you don’t break any branches and if the lights are coming down on concrete or another hard surface, make sure they don’t come down too quickly. I did this last year and broke a few bulbs as the entire string over the house came down at at one time. It took me over ten minutes to put them up and they came down in two seconds.
Credit for this trick goes to my handy neighbour, who always has practical ideas on how to save time outside and around the house.