It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Bring on the family gatherings, holiday music, gift giving, and most importantly – the Christmas decorations. In all seriousness, it’s not truly the holiday season until you can drive around to see Christmas lights and your house is decked out in all its holiday glory.

While there is nothing more magical than the holiday season, it is also important to keep your home and loved ones safe during this time. All of those extra lights, cords, and decorations can cause problems if you are not vigilant about what you are using and where you are putting them. To help make things a little easier on you, following are a few of our top safety tips for decorating your home this holiday season.

Keep Your Christmas Tree Hydrated
If you are going to have a real tree in your home for the holidays, it is imperative that you keep it hydrated. In fact, you should check the water level on your tree at least every other day. If you fail to water your tree regularly and it becomes dried out, your tree can become highly flammable when the lights are turned on.

Place Your Tree Away from Heat Sources
You may have the perfect spot picked out for your Christmas tree, but please make sure that it is away from any heat sources in your home. This means that you should not set up your Christmas tree near the fireplace, radiators, or vents.

Work Together While Decorating
Even if you typically like to tackle the Christmas decorating alone, you should have someone else helping you out as a safety precaution. Especially if you will be climbing on a ladder inside or outside to put up lights, someone should be supporting the ladder to ensure that things don’t go awry.

Turn Off the Lights at Bedtime
We know you might like the idea of leaving your Christmas lights on all night, but it’s better to play it safe than sorry. If a short occurred while you were sleeping, the end result would not be good.