Making My Summer Dreams Come True: Outdoor Party String Lights Edition

I had high hopes for our backyard going into the summertime. I was feeling like we had missed out on an entire season of backyard fun last year, since we were busy with a newborn and then with moving. So I was determined to make up for it this year.

I largely abandoned working on the inside of the duplex to focus on the outside: we needed summer fun! I wanted lots of grilled foods. I wanted to eat dinners outside. And the most indulgent of all of my outdoor dreams: I wanted party lights.

String lights go a long way in making an outdoor setting feel really fun and special. You can have a regular backyard and then put some lights up and it turns into a cozy setting where you will want to spend hours.

I had had these lights in my Amazon cart for probably 6 months, but then found these Target lights super on sale in store and got them instead. The bulbs of the Target strands are also closer together, which made me feel like I was getting even more bang for my buck.

Hanging string lights is very easy! We have a privacy fence that separates the patio area from the rest of the backyard, so we zigzagged the strands back and forth between the house and the inner fence. We have vinyl siding, so got these hooks for the attachment points on the house, and just used nails for the fence side.

The hardest part was screwing the bulbs in after the strands were hung. My arms were unhappy that the Target lights came with bulbs unscrewed. But we also didn't have any bulbs break during the hanging process, so I guess they know what they're doing!