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I was starting to think I was a little nuts for spending $75 on lights after noticing that the local Costco was selling LED strings for a price that didn't make me cringe, then being the only house on the block that had any sort of display at all. I reminded myself that they only reason they went up so early was to take advantage of the continuing above freezing weather and lack of snow (a rarity for mid-november around here), but it didn't help much. Then I started reading about the enthusiasts here who start planning next year's display on boxing day, start setting it up in September and have 5-digit bulb counts. Now I feel like just another guy who put up a few lights. But I'm starting to get crazy ideas about next year.
Titanium48 wrote: I was starting to think I was a little nuts for spending $75 on lights after noticing that the local Costco was selling LED strings for a price that didn't make me cringe, then being the only house on the block that had any sort of display at all. I reminded myself that they only reason they went up so early was to take advantage of the continuing above freezing weather and lack of snow (a rarity for mid-november around here), but it didn't help much. Then I started reading about the enthusiasts here who start planning next year's display on boxing day, start setting it up in September and have 5-digit bulb counts. Now I feel like just another guy who put up a few lights. But I'm starting to get crazy ideas about next year.
Yep, you're nuts if you spent $75 on lights before Christmas ...because you can usually get them for about half price afterward!!
That means you can spend that same $75 after Christmas and bring home twice as many lights (nearly $150 value) by waiting till the day after Christmas!!! Of course, that means you have to put your new toys away and not tell anyone you have them till next year when everyone else finally gets into the mood to decorate again!!!
As to taking advantage of the beautiful fall weather...yep, you can have a large and very beautiful dispay that you dont have to fight the cold weather to put up, if you have broad shoulders and are willing to endure the constant belittling comments of the neighbors who either wait till the last minute or who like to grumble about being cold as they put up the lights!
By FINISHING erecting our display before others are even in the mood to put theirs up, we have lots more time to enjoy the season and share our happiness about the season with others!
Glad you "caught our bug"! May your display turn out just how you dreamed it would be!!!
I did get 6 x 70 red and 6 x 35 blue fullwave rectified C6 LEDs for that $75 so I don't feel too ripped off. I will definitely have to check out the boxing day sales though - the "next frontier" is the 40 foot spruce tree in my front yard.
Titanium48 wrote: I will definitely have to check out the boxing day sales though - the "next frontier" is the 40 foot spruce tree in my front yard.
The "next frontier"...sounds like you're a Trekkie or Luke Skywalker fan!!! I love that expression in relation to our decorating hobby!
For the last 4 years, my "next frontier" was the grassy ditch in the front of my house. I had a blurry vision of a candy cane type fence going the length of the driveway (about 40 ft) and the length of the ditch next to the street (about 80 ft). But, decorationg the ditch was always at the end of my "to do list".
This year, I concentrated on conquering that frontier. Instead of candy canes (which have a "hook top) I could finally see peppermint sticks (standing erect) down the side of the driveway and lining the side of the ditch and green garland joining each one. The other day, I saw some gold plastic bells at the craft store & suddenly, I "knew" how to finish the fence!!
Now to figure out what I needed to make my dream come true: I did a little math and a little calculations to decide that if I marked and placed the peppermint sticks 2,5 foot high and 5 ft apart, all my supplies would "match" and come out without gobs of leftovers.
The peppermint stick fence poles are made of 2.5 ft lengths of the 4" diameter thick-wall 10 ft PVC (schedule 40) wrapped in a twist of 5 ft of red velvet ribbon (outdoor quaility from craft store comes on large rolls and was 1/2 price when I bought it!) and anchored by red duct tape inside the PVC pipe and the bells and ground will anchor it firmly when its erected.
I bought 4 paks of 30 ft of garland, 24 med sized gold bells, 12 eight foot 1X2 stakes (which I cut in half and sharpened on one end to make 24 4-foot stakes) & 2 dozen galvanized decking screws.
Outdoors I laid out 2 string lines: making a large L (the length of the ditch) and (the length of the driveway). I used the string lines to keep the fence row straight as I was building it. The intersection of these two lines would be at the corner of the ditch and the driveway.
I drove the wooden stakes about 1 ft into the ground at exactly 5 ft spacing intervals along the string marker. I dropped the peppermint fence poles over the sticks, placed a gold bell over the end of the peppermint fence pole and used a galvanized screw through the hole in the top of the bell to attach them to the wooden stakes.
I then either lifted or tapped the stakes to hold the pepperment fence pole upright and securely fit between the gold bell and the ground. This also helps to hold the red ribbon in place, so the wind and rain and cold dont cause the ribbon to come loose halfway during the holiday season!
I used the little wire twist that was through the top of the bell (used to hang the bell up) to attach the garland to the fence at the bell. Be sure to make the "dip" in the garland uniform as you hang it and dont forget to end each length of garland ON a pole rather than part way across the 5 foot span....(thats why the mathmatical planning before buying supplies!)
To make this an easy "grab and go" project next year, I will permantly mark the placement of the stakes in the yard as I remove them after Christmas. I'll try to post pictures after I finish!
I know some folks will want to make the peppermint sticks by painting the PVC, but at this time of year, its quicker to measure 5 ft of ribbon and twist it around the pipe, and call it done, rather than having to tape and paint and wait for it to dry and reapply if the 24 are not painted uniformly. If I decide to paint them for next year, I can enjoy them this season and then I have all year to paint and then will have 24 five foot lengths of red ribbon to make big bows with! (always think ahead!!!)
The biggest pain is to remember if a "leftie" and "rightie" twist the ribbon, they will turn out mirror image candies. The way to "correct it" before it happens is to start with ribbons with a 45 degree angle pre-cut into the top of each of the lengths of ribbon. That way, the ribbon always starts with same angle and twist going the same way...no matter who Santa's elves and helpers are!
Happy Holidays!
Kathy
btw: I know that "boxing day" is not a holiday in the USA...But could you remind me what holiday it is? Ive heard that expression before....but cant remember what it is???
I enjoy the occasional star trek rerun but I'm not a huge fan. I just like lights.
Boxing day = December 26. I'm not sure where the name came from, but it's basically just to make Christmas a 2 day holiday (unless of course you work in retail). Makes up for not having Thanksgiving in November (it's the 2nd Monday in October here). With all the stat holidays clustered together, it's not uncommon for businesses to just shut down for the entire Dec 25 to Jan 1 period (except retail).
Your peppermint stick fence sounds very cool. If you ever want to revisit the candy cane idea you could just add a bunch of PVC elbows.
Titanium48 wrote: Boxing day = December 26. I'm not sure where the name came from, but it's basically just to make Christmas a 2 day holiday (unless of course you work in retail). Makes up for not having Thanksgiving in November (it's the 2nd Monday in October here). With all the stat holidays clustered together, it's not uncommon for businesses to just shut down for the entire Dec 25 to Jan 1 period (except retail).
Now, Im really curious: If you dont have Thanksgiving in the end of November....How do you know when to turn your Christmas lights on???
Or do ya'll have them on by the 2nd mon in Oct?? Do you have halloween too? Same as here or do you celebrate the holidays differently???
Welcome to the PC its the home of people who are nuts and like lights and consume lots lots and lots of power.
____________________ Iam still trying to get back underground grrrrr no job right now. US Silver Corporation layd me off and iam out of a job know matter what US Silver Corp says iam a miner and always be a miner so there HA HA HA.
Kathy Byrd wrote: Now, Im really curious: If you dont have Thanksgiving in the end of November....How do you know when to turn your Christmas lights on???
Or do ya'll have them on by the 2nd mon in Oct?? Do you have halloween too? Same as here or do you celebrate the holidays differently???
YIKES!!!
Christmas lights start appearing in mid-November and continue to proliferate until mid-December. Most people turn on their lights as soon as they put them up (usually on a less cold weekend in late November or early December). Early birds might wait until municipal decorations appear sometime in late November.
Some holidays are the same in Canada and others are not. New Years Day, Good Friday, Labor Day, Halloween and Christmas are the same. In some provinces there is a holiday on the 3rd Monday in February called "Family Day". The Monday after Easter Sunday is a stat holiday. There is a holiday in May (Victoria Day) the week before the US Memorial Day, which is not a holiday here. Our national holiday (Canada Day) is 3 days before yours, on July 1 (which is a really terrible time for fireworks at 53.5°N latitude - we have "midnight twilight" between early June and mid-July). There is a holiday that goes by different names in different provinces on the first Monday in August. Thanksgiving is in October (Columbus day in the US) and we combine Memorial Day and Veterans Day into a single holiday on November 11 (Rememberance Day).
Last edited on Tuesday November 20th, 2007 06:45 am by Titanium48
But I'm starting to get crazy ideas about next year.
