In the late 1800s when the use of incandescent bulbs were still a fashionable luxury, miniature battery powered lights were hung on the crowns of a few fairies in a play for Christmas. This caused such an excitement in the whole of England that all Christmas lights started being called fairy lights from then on. This practice is mostly restricted to the UK, although you will find this term used in other places too. These lights are usually no different from the normal string lights used for decorative purposes although only the ones that use mini bulbs can be classified as such. They can be used for both internal as well as external decorative purposes. Occasionally these lights come with bulb covers which are shaped like a fairy, or a Christmas tree, or anything else that seems appropriate for the season.
Religious historians say that the practice of placing lights for the winter solstice predates Christianity. Whatever the origin the practice of lighting up the entire household for the season is here to stay and so are fairy lights as a consequence. These lights are almost useless during the rest of the year as they cannot even be used as normal string lights because of their small size, but the demand for these lights probably exceeds the demand for string lights, although most sales would be packed into two weeks to a month.
Fairy lights come in various different shapes; with the most common being the small bulbs that glow with only one color or are multi-colored. With the arrival of LED glow lamps, it is possible to buy really tiny ones that are also dirt cheap. The lamps that come with mini bulbs give off just a little more light than the LED ones and are chosen for this reason. If for example your Christmas tree is a really large one, or you are using a real rather than an artificial one, using LED’s is not such a good idea as the lights will be almost invisible behind the foliage. Depending on the use, different lengths, colors and single or multi-function lights can be chosen.
Fairy lights are used for other decorative purposes like lighting your house, the driveway, your hedge or anything else that you want to decorate. These lights come with a size limit but since the purpose is purely decorative this is not an issue. In fact in some cases, illumination is achieved by stringing up a number of strands of lights containing a few hundred bulbs in total.
Although single or multi-colored bulbs are a matter of personal preference, the multi-function ones are usually purchased as they make the lights “blink” in different patterns. If synchronized with other strands a few strings can achieve an effect that is impossible with stringing a lot of lights that go on and off haphazardly. Most simple decorations consist of just stringing up lights along the border or boundary of the house with a few on the hedge. More elaborate ones will include stringing up blinking lamps on the roof, the lawns, the vegetation, and even the street outside.
Fairy lights are not too expensive, and their price usually depends on the length of the string, or the number of lamps. The LED ones are very cheap but they also do not come in very long strands since they are mostly for internal decorative purposes. The slightly bigger ones may cost in the range of $30 to $40 for a set of 200 lamps, but can be reused a number of times. Some of them also give you the option of being able to replace fused bulbs so that their longevity depends purely on the kind of use you put it to.
Fairy lamps are an intricate part of Christmas, and will not leave us until Christmas does, which is never. Choosing a good one that will last you some time is therefore a good option.