I need help with outdoor Christmas lights?

Ok, maybe I am making this way harder than it is, but I am completely baffled when it comes to hanging outdoor Christmas lights. Here’s where I need help… If you want to hang a string of Christmas lights off of (for example) a 13 ft strip and lights only come in (for example) a 15 ft strip, how do you hang a 15 ft string of lights across a 13 ft area without having excess lights hanging off? As I drive around our neighborhood, it would appear that no one has any excess lights hanging off of their gutters, nor do they have any strands which are too short. It would appear the strands they’ve hung are miraculously perfect in length. The lights aren’t hiding anywhere (say, on the backside of the roof or anything), so what am I missing here? Strands of lights only come in certain lengths and not everyone has the same area to cover. So, how do I hang my lights without either a) having excess amounts hanging off of the gutters or b) having a strand which is too short?

This "doubling back"… wouldn’t that show? In my head, I imagine it to look like there’s too many lights or extra brightness in that area (where you’ve "doubled back"). Am I making this too hard? : )

Try doubling the very end of it back so that none hangs over. That way yours looks perfect like everyone else in the neighborhood!