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Newsletter December 2008

It's About Time!

Welcome to your December 2008 edition of the PlanetChristmas newsletter! It is published regularly and covers relative topics for the Christmas decorating professional and enthusiast.

Here's what you can read about in this December 2008 newsletter:

Tearing Down the 2008 Display

Have you ever noticed how all those people eager to help set up the Christmas display seem to disappear when it comes time to take it down? How does the weatherman know to start forecasting so much bad weather when you really need to be removing all those decorations?

Here are some tips that won't make things any easier for taking down the decorations for 2008, but will probably help setting up in 2009.

  • Get out that fancy digital camera and during daylight hours, walk around and take as many pictures as possible of your display, including the behind-the-scenes stuff. Print out the pictures or create a special folder on your computer. With each picture, write yourself plenty of notes. You'll be amazed how much easier things will be next year when you can refer to pictures from this year.
  • Create a list called "What worked well in the 2008 display." You know what your favorites parts were because they're fresh on your mind. Also, write down any good comments you heard from others. Step back to admire your list and think of all the great memories you made for so many people!
  • Create a list called "What didn't work so well in the 2008 display." Be brutally honest. You'll be amazed how simply writing down your thoughts will help focus on what can be improved for next year.
  • If you have the space and time, take all the decorations down and put them in an empty room or garage. Before you store a string of lights, plug it in and make sure it works. Start a separate pile of troubled decorations to be fixed later. Why go through this pain now? You'll feel confident while up on the ladder when putting those icicle lights on the eve in 2009 that they were working after they came down in 2008. The pile of "non-functioning" decorations can be repaired while watching TV during the rest of the year.
  • Finally, label the boxes where the decorations are stored. If you have a lot of stuff, you've already experienced the pain of searching for that one string of teal colored mini-lights stashed somewhere in those dozens of decoration boxes. Create whatever labeling scheme works for you. I put a unique number on a uniform sized plastic tote and keep a separate, detailed list of the contents. I'm so confident in my system I brag that I can find any item in less than a minute.

Now, get out there and take down the decoration!

LED War Stories for 2008

LED (Light Emitting Diode) technology is great. In the Christmas lighting world, LEDs use only 5-10% of the electricity when compared to the incandescent versions. This can make a substantial different in your power bill. That's the good news.

Many started seeing some quality issues in how LED strings were being built and shipped earlier this year. People with computerized displays found LED strings didn't always dim like the incandescents. Others found LEDs "burning out" even though the bulbs have a life expectancy of many years. It's obvious the builders are still working the kinks out of their manufacturing processes as they begin ramping up for the volume of worldwide sales.

Here are a few hints passed along to PlanetChristmas that might help with your future LED based displays.

  • Forget about the rule of threes (never plug more than three strings of Christmas lights in series). With most LED strings being shipped now, you can plug two dozen end-to-end. But, that assumes everything along the string length is an LED. Don't plug an inflatable, a sting of 100 incandescent C9's or a 500 watt flood light into the end of a string of LEDs.
  • C7-C9 based LED replacement bulbs dramatically reduce your power requirements. Until very recently, these individual bulbs were not designed to dim. If you paid $1 for each of these bulbs and watched them burn out in your computerized display with all that fancy dimming, well... consider this an expensive lesson learned. Make sure future LED based C7-C9 replacement bulbs are "dimmable."
  • If your string of LEDs is acting odd for whatever reason, simply turning the plug around (reversing the power plug in the socket) will sometimes clear the problem.
  • Many computerized light controllers struggle trying to make a few sets of LED strings dim because so little power is required. One trick is to add an incandescent C7 bulb to the light circuit. This five watt load is enough to make the controller work correctly and the LED string will take on the characteristics of that little C7 bulb. Start with a cheap set of 25 C7's, slice and dice, add some vampire plugs/sockets and end up with 25 magical LED string fixers. Just hook the incandescent C7 in series with the LEDs and hide the bulb.
  • If the LED strings connected to a particular computerized light controller are giving you fits, adding a signal booster to the data control cable will usually clear up any problems. No one is absolutely sure why this does the trick... but when you're in the heat of battle, don't ask too many questions.
  • Finally, if you anticipate buying a lot of LEDs for 2009, work closely with the manufacturer and/or reseller. Rest assured they don't want to sell a bad product but it is important you get some sample strings and do your own quality testing. What did President Ronald Reagan say years ago? "trust but verify."

Those Perfect Christmas Trees and your Centerpiece for 2009

Have you noticed many of the gigantic Christmas trees at shopping malls are starting to look just a little too perfect? It's almost like they've taken gigantic man-made cones, painted them green and glued a bunch of lights and ornaments on the outside. It's great these trees are such grand centerpieces, but in my humble opinion, they need to keep a certain amount of natures chaos involved so things look more real. I'll get off my soapbox now.

Seems all the big guys have figured out they need one really big decoration in their display for you to remember them. Whether it's that gigantic (and perfectly shaped) Christmas tree, real reindeer or huge waving Santa, that's the first thing you tell others when describing the display.

What's the centerpiece of your display?

I'm betting you haven't really thought about it but you should. Pick one item you want people to remember and pour in the time and effort to make it great. For many it's building a mega-tree of lights. That will work and there are plenty of plans available! If you attend PLUS2009, prepare to attend some classes or get other centerpiece ideas by prowling the PlanetChristmas "How Do I..." section of the website.

Really stumped about how to improve your display for 2009? Get some great centerpiece ideas by browsing the "Showing Off" section of the PlanetChristmas website.

World Wide Decorating Contest Winners

The PlanetChristmas World Wide Christmas Decorating Contest for 2008 is history. Who won? Click the names beside the categories below to see details. You're going to be impressed (and get some ideas for your future display!)

Congratulations to everyone and a special thank you to all submitting an entry.

PLUS2009 Website is Live!

Really great Christmas displays don't happen spontaneously. Like anything well done, there's plenty of planning involved. Some of us think about our displays year-round while the rest seem to think about it at the most inopportune times. All of us need some nudging so we now have a yearly gathering at the end of July called PlanetChristmas Lights Up Symposium. The next one we simply call PLUS2009. Think of it as a head start on Christmas planning as well as a way to enhance a summer vacation and get the rest of the family involved during the holiday season.

Go ahead and mark your PLUS2009 calendars for July 29 through August 1, 2009 in Louisville at the Kentucky International Convention Center. It's our gathering of people that decorate for Christmas.

PLUS2009 is now 3.5 days of nonstop activities. We start Wednesday afternoon and go through Saturday night with our gala banquet. Last I checked there were over 50 different class titles offered in the course catalog.

Want an easy way to keep up with PLUS information? Go to the website at www.gotoPLUS.com. It's the first place official PLUS information is shared with others. PLUS2009 registration is now open with early bird specials.

PlanetChristmas Shameless Promotion

A brand new batch of exclusive PlanetChristmas shirts and jackets are now in stock. See all the details at the PlanetChristmas Store. Money collected from these sales goes toward PlanetChristmas and PLUS.

Logo on clothes

PlanetChristmas Tip of the Month

Time to keep an eye open for garage sales in your area. Most can be treasure troves of Christmas decorations at really great prices.

PlanetChristmas Radio is on the Internet!

The PlanetChristmas radio station is available 24/7/365 to anyone with a fast Internet connection to tap into. Find the details at http://www.planetchristmas.com/PCRadio.htm

Registering for the PlanetChristmas Newsletter

I'm working with a company called Constant Contact to handle the PlanetChristmas email distribution and make sure we comply with all government rules and regulations. If you want to remove your name from the list, go to http://www.planetchristmas.com/Newsletters.htm and enter your email address. You'll be given an option to "opt-out" of future mailings. Likewise you'll also be able to remove your address from any future emailings by simply clicking a link at the bottom of the PlanetChristmas emails you receive in the future. For the record, PlanetChristmas values your privacy and does not share your email address with anyone.

And finally...

Don't limit that Christmas feeling to December. Help people every month of the year. You'll make a positive difference in the lives of others while at the same time making yourself feel pretty darn good.

Next time: look forward to more Christmas decorating tips.

Chuck Smith of PlanetChristmas