Purple Christmas Lights: How To Choose Purple Bulbs, Strings, And Palettes
Purple Christmas lights have a way of making a display feel deliberate. A purple tree, a violet roofline, or a hedge glowing like amethyst looks planned rather than thrown together, and it gives your home a look nobody else on the street has.
Purple also comes in more forms than most people expect: screw-in C9 and C7 bulbs, light strings in four lens styles, net lights, strobing SuperSpark® strings, and ColorCraft® palettes that pair purple with teal, blue, green, gold, and more. This guide walks through how to match the right purple product to each part of your display. Everything here lives in our purple Christmas lights collection.
Where Purple Works Best
Purple is a deep, saturated color, so it rewards a little planning before you buy.
- Give it contrast. Purple stands out best against light siding, white trim, stone, and snow. On dark brick or dense evergreens, plan for more lights per foot so the color reads from the street.
- Decide on solid or blended. A single-color purple display looks bold and modern. Pairing purple with teal, blue, or cool white feels wintry and icy, while purple with gold or green feels richer and more playful.
- Repeat it. Purple used in one spot can look like a mistake. Purple on the roofline, a tree, and a shrub bed reads as a theme.
If you are still deciding on a palette, our guide to Christmas light color combinations has pairings worth considering.
Rooflines And Outlines: C9 Purple Bulbs
For rooflines, gables, and larger architectural outlines, use screw-in C9 bulbs on a socket stringer. Each bulb screws in on its own, so you can run solid purple or build a pattern with other colors.
- C9 Purple Faceted ProCore® LED Christmas Light Bulbs have a cut lens that throws sparkling points of light, the brightest-looking choice for a purple roofline.
- C9 Purple Smooth ProCore® LED Christmas Light Bulbs give an even, glowing look from each bulb, a softer and more vintage finish.
Both use an E17 intermediate base, draw 0.84 watts per bulb, carry an IP67 rating, and come in packs of 25 with a nearly indestructible polycarbonate lens and a nickel-plated base. Both are dimmable. Screw them into a 25' C9 stringer with 12" spacing or a longer run from our C9 stringer collection, and plan about one bulb per foot of roofline. Our C9 LED retrofit bulbs guide covers lens finishes and stringer choices in more depth, and our C9 roofline patterns guide has layouts to copy if you want to mix purple with another color.
Windows, Doors, And Trees: C7 Purple Bulbs
C7 bulbs are smaller than C9s, which makes them a natural fit for window and doorway outlines, porch railings, and indoor or outdoor Christmas trees. The C7 Purple Smooth ProCore® LED Christmas Light Bulbs use an E12 candelabra base, draw 0.8 watts per bulb, are dimmable, and come in packs of 25. Pair them with a 25' C7 stringer with 12" spacing from our C7 stringer collection. For more on choosing C7 bulbs, see our C7 LED retrofit bulbs guide.
Trees, Shrubs, And Garland: Purple Light Strings
For wrapping trees, filling shrubs, and lighting garland, use purple light strings. They come in four lens styles, all with green wire, sealed sockets, and male and female plugs so you can connect strings end to end.
| Lens style | Light string | Lit length | Strings end to end |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5mm wide-angle dome | 50 5mm Purple, 4" spacing | 16.33 ft | Up to 90 |
| 5mm wide-angle dome | 70 5mm Purple, 4" spacing | 23 ft | Up to 45 |
| M5 faceted | 50 M5 Purple, 4" spacing | 16.33 ft | Up to 90 |
| M5 faceted | 70 M5 Purple, 4" spacing | 23 ft | Up to 45 |
| M5 faceted | 100 M5 Purple, 4" spacing | 33 ft | Up to 27 |
| C6 strawberry | 70 C6 Purple, 4" spacing | 23 ft | Up to 45 |
| C6 strawberry | 100 C6 Purple, 4" spacing | 33 ft | Up to 27 |
| G12 raspberry | 70 G12 Purple, 4" spacing | 23 ft | Up to 45 |
Which lens style should you pick? The 5mm wide-angle dome spreads light evenly and is the modern standard for wrapping trunks and branches. The M5 has an elongated faceted lens with a traditional mini light look. The C6 strawberry and G12 raspberry lenses are a little larger and add texture on garland, wreaths, and indoor trees. All of these steady purple strings are dimmable and rated for indoor and outdoor use. Our buyers guides to M5 mini lights, C6 lights, and G12 globe lights go deeper on each style.
Light strings are never for rooflines. Use C9 or C7 bulbs there and save strings for trees, shrubs, railings wrapped by hand, and greenery.
Shrubs And Hedges: Purple Net Lights
Net lights are the fastest way to cover a shrub evenly. The 5mm 4' x 6' Purple LED Net Lights hold 100 5mm lights on a 6" x 4" grid, draw 12 watts, have a 24" lead, and connect up to 18 nets end to end. Lay a net over the top of a shrub, tug it into shape, and you have an evenly lit purple bush in minutes. Our Christmas net lights buying guide covers sizing and how many nets a hedge needs.
Add Some Flash: Purple SuperSpark® Strobe Lights
If you want a display that gets people talking, the 50 5mm Purple SuperSpark® LED Strobe Christmas Lights strobe every bulb on the string. Each string covers 24.5 feet of lit length on 6" spacing and connects up to 45 strings end to end. Strobes are extremely flashy, so use them as a feature on one tree or an accent line, not across the whole house. Our Christmas strobe lights guide explains how to work strobes into a display.
Purple Palettes: ColorCraft® Strings With Purple
Our ColorCraft® Christmas lights are designed color palettes rather than the traditional red, green, blue, orange, and yellow multicolor mix. Several feature purple:
- Stardust (teal, blue, and purple): the icy, wintry purple look. Available as a 50 5mm string on green wire or white wire, a 70 5mm DreamSpark® slow fade string, DreamSpark® smooth fade net lights, DreamSpark® slow fade icicle lights, and C9 faceted bulbs (each pack of 25 holds 8 blue, 9 purple, and 8 teal bulbs). That range lets you carry one palette from the roofline to the shrubs.
- Colombia (blue, purple, and green): a cool, jewel-toned mix on a 50 5mm string.
- Gingerbread (pink, teal, lime green, and purple): a playful candy-shop palette on a 50 5mm string.
- Victorian (red, orange, and purple): a warm, old-world mix on a 50 5mm string.
- Rainbow (red, orange, gold, green, blue, and purple): every color in the spectrum on a 50 5mm string.
The 50 light 5mm ColorCraft® strings cover 24.5 feet of lit length on 6" spacing and connect up to 45 strings end to end. DreamSpark® products fade each light slowly and randomly for a soft, shimmering effect. Our ColorCraft® light strings buyers guide covers every palette.
How Much Purple Do You Need?
- Rooflines: measure the run in feet and plan one C9 bulb per foot on 12" spacing stringers. A 25' stringer takes one 25 pack of bulbs.
- Tree trunks and branches: wrap tightly, about 4" to 6" between wraps, and measure the trunk's circumference times its height to estimate feet of lights.
- Shrubs: one 4' x 6' net covers the top of a typical shrub. Larger hedges take several nets connected end to end.
- Christmas trees: our Christmas tree light string calculator works out how many strings a tree needs.
Built To Last Season After Season
Every purple product in this guide is LED, UL Listed, and rated for indoor and outdoor use. Our LED light strings and ProCore® C7 and C9 bulbs are backed by our 3-Season Reindeer Proof™ Warranty. Our team decorates rooflines, trees, homes, businesses, and some of the largest Christmas displays in the world, so if you are not sure which purple product fits your plan, email help@thechristmaslightemporium.com and we will help you build your list.
