Electrical products have become significantly safer over the past few decades. With GFCI (Ground Fault Circuit Interruption) outlets, non-reversible plugs and other innovations of the recent past, it’s rare to get shocked. But the possibility still exists.

It takes only about 100 volts to push less than 2/10ths of an amp through your body, which is enough to kill or cause serious harm. The 120V, 5-20amp systems common in households provide more than enough to do the job, especially if your hands are moist and/or salty. Salty water is highly conductive.

The most obvious thing to check is the insulation. Storing multiple strings of lights away for a year, jammed into a box with ornaments, can easily strip a small hole in the plastic around wires. Missing insulation is even more likely if the lights were hung last year by tacking them on with u-shaped nails. Those compress the insulation and sometimes even puncture it.

Being shocked isn’t the only possible outcome from electricity, though. A simple spark near a piece of exposed wood won’t usually start a fire. But wood shavings produced by insects or construction can provide a starter. A piece of dried paper from insulation is almost as good as the wick on an oil lamp. That’s just one reason it’s always recommended to keep oil, paint thinner and similar solvents away from the walls in the garage.

An artificial tree will be made from or coated with flame retardant material. They’re very hard to combust. But a natural tree, especially one that has dried out over a few weeks period, is a potential fire hazard. With care, the risk is very low. But it’s worthwhile making efforts to ensure that any tree strung with lights is not exposed to a source of electricity. Don’t leave any sockets open and ensure there are no breaks in the insulation. Don’t use spliced wire on a Christmas tree.

But falling is probably the most common hazard around Christmas time.

It’s common to use a tall ladder to string lights inside and out. But that activity should never be undertaken solo. Make sure someone is there to hold the ladder when you climb and when you descend. Friction is never assured. One slight body movement can produce a sideways force that pushes the ladder out from under you.

Always use a ladder with non-slip feet and set it one foot out for every four feet in height. As always, avoid using the top two steps. Indoors it’s helpful to have someone secure the ladder if it’s more than three feet tall. Even a fall from a step stool while stringing lights on a tree indoors can result in serious hip or arm injuries.

Hazards are more common during the holiday season because of the greater use of lights that have been stored, slippery floors from more frequent cleaning and other seasonal behaviors. Compensate by taking extra care.

Safety is the first and most obvious consideration.

If you use displays containing glass, ensure they’re well protected from kids with bicycles, dogs and other rompers who can break something. Even plastic parts that chip off can easily cut a bare foot. If your display contains lights, ensure that you use extension cords that have enough capacity. An overheated wire, the result of using too narrow a gauge, is a fire hazard. Make sure they’re placed and secured so that tripping is unlikely.

In most areas security will be a valid concern.

Sadly, it only takes one bad actor deciding it would be fun to damage your scene to ruin all your efforts. Security systems come in all types these days. One of the most efficient is the sort that uses a wire laid into the grass. Inexpensive and easy to install, they alert you when an intruder has crossed the line. Many have timers so you can shut them off at certain times of the day.

Accidental damage is even more likely, though.

Ensuring that your display lasts through many seasons is easy with just common sense precautions. Wind is common in most climates during the Christmas season. Supporting your scene doesn’t take much more than a little thought and effort. Look around your display from all angles. Give it a nudge in every direction. Using a series of stakes and ropes, short and thin boards or rods, and other props you can make a sturdy, wind-resistant display.

Rain is another obvious potential problem. Most plastic displays present no problem. But scenes containing straw, cardboard or even wood can rot quickly. Mildew builds up fast on wet wood. Cardboard will become mush in a good downpour. Straw will create a home for insects even more rapidly if it gets moist.

You have several ways to solve that problem inexpensively. You can house your display in a tent designed to look like part of the scene. Or you can build it under an awning or roof overhang. Or you can just select materials that will weather well.

Give a little thought to how to erect and protect your outdoor Christmas decoration. Your efforts will be rewarded many times over. It will last through several seasons, decreasing the cost and effort of creating that scene that delights you and your neighbors.

Everyone enjoys the longstanding practice of putting up outdoor Christmas lights. That’s still a great way to decorate the exterior of a home. But go beyond the usual and add some visually pleasing twists to your decorating efforts.

A string of colored lights wrapped around the pine tree in the front yard is fine. But take advantage of modern technology. But add a holographic snowman to your front yard and delight your entire neighborhood. These devices simply project a snowman image in 3-D anywhere you want. You can walk all around the display and see a snowman in Christmas colors.

Take the next step and add motion to the scene. Moving light shows that project Christmas-themed images can be anything from simple colored lights to complete video. You can light up an outdoor bush or project a scene onto the garage door. You can make the shadows dance under the eaves or twinkle the angel decoration on the top of the house.

Add real objects to the light display and flesh out the decorations.

A Nativity scene is a traditional holiday favorite. Spruce it up a little by adding some spray-on snow if you don’t live in a climate that provides the real thing. Add some realistic touches by putting down small clumps of straw inside and outside the manger.

Sadly, though, sometimes a person will get the idea to ruin the scene. So, you may want to invest in some security. Devices such as a buried-in-the-lawn wire alarm system can alert you to unwanted visitors in the night.

Mailboxes provide the perfect opportunity to exercise your creativity. You can go for traditional ribbons and bows or spruce it up with decorative red and gold-colored paints. Or, you can go a little more abstract and design a decorative wreath made from non-traditional materials. An icy-crystal look can be achieved by using white wire hangers and shiny translucent plastic.

Place a white or colored light in the center of the wreath and hang it from the mailbox. You can run the wire down the pole and along a thin extension cord to the lawn lights. Or, use a solar-powered light that stores up energy during the day and releases it at night.

If you have trees and/or bushes in the yard they give you plenty of objects to decorate in traditional or unusual ways. Strings of lights work fine. Faux-icicles are still a great favorite. But be creative and use some miniature figurines to make your design unique. Tiny figures from the Grinch Who Stole Christmas are an idea. Or, sprinkle the foliage with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs carrying out their characteristic actions.

One of my favorites is to just put wreathes and candles in each window and a wreath on the front door, and then light the front of your house with some floodlights.

Even the lawn itself can be a huge canvas. Light strings, solar lights in the shape of a wreath, some special glow-in-the-dark paint of the type that washes away after a few weeks…. The list of possibilities is limitless. Use your creativity and imagination.