It's About Time! 

Welcome to the November 2005 edition of the PlanetChristmas newsletter!  It's published every month and covers relative topics for the decorating enthusiasts. 

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Tips, Tricks and Safety: 

Simple tips and tricks contribute to better safety while assembling your display.  As obvious as some of these sound, you would be amazed how many people forget the basics during the excitement and hurried pace of assembling their display.  Here are just a few tips and tricks to add to your arsenal while setting up for Christmas. 

Check your lights before you use them. I typically do this inside watching TV.  It’s a lot easier to troubleshoot a problem while sitting in a nice chair compared to being outside in the bad weather.  With the light string unplugged, first visually check all of the wire for anything unusual.  If you see any frayed or bare wire, it’s time to throw the string away. Assuming the wiring looks OK, plug in the string and if none of the lights work at all, check the fuses in the plug.  The easiest thing to do is replace both fuses at the same time.  Now plug the string in and if at least some of the lights come on, replace the obvious burned out bulbs.  For mini-lights, should you have entire sections of the string not working, one of my favorite tools is a professional light tester available from several vendors and costs around $175.  Plug in a bad string, punch a big button and either the lights magically fix themselves or you can see/hear where the problem is occurring.  Checkout this product (click here) for an example.  The high price is more than justified should you have thousands of lights.  I have mini-light strings still in service after 20 years because of this tool.  There’s also a much smaller version available at many stores this season called Lightkeeper-Pro and can also be found at http://www.lightkeeper.biz/.  Finally, if the light string still refuses to work no matter what you do, pull out the bulbs and the fuses so you can use them as spares while throwing the rest of the string away. 

Become familiar with the basics of electricity.  The voltage in your wall plug can kill you so treat it with great respect.  Become familiar with the “Power Needs” page on PlanetChristmas at http://www.planetchristmas.com/FigurePower.htm as well as understanding the wire size of extension cords at http://www.planetchristmas.com/WireSize.htm.  Trying to cheat when it comes to electricity typically leads to disastrous results.  Too much electrical current on too small a wire will lead to unplanned special effects and a visit from your fire department.  It’s so much easier to be safe than sorry when it comes to electricity. 

Live and breathe the “rule of threes” when it comes to Christmas lights.  At least once, take the time to read all those irritating tags at the end of new Christmas light strings.  Your typical tag will say something like “Never connect more than three in series.”  Don’t break this rule.  Trying to cheat and connecting four or five in series will probably lead to the wire overheating and ultimately a fire.  Stick with the rule of threes.  You might need more extension cords but it’s a cheap investment compared to your house catching fire. 

Label, label, label.  When you’re trying to troubleshoot a problem, having your wires labeled makes a huge difference.   Keep a roll of masking tape and a Sharpie with you to do the labeling.  The few seconds needed to label each wire can be worth an hour when something isn’t working right. 

Label in sequence.  Putting a dozen light strings on a bush is easy.  Taking those strings off can become a mess.  Sequentially label each string as you put them on the bush.  Reverse the order when you remove the strings.  No tangling and a huge timesaver. 

Rebar is your friend.  Wireframes, blowmolds, inflatables, wood cutouts, etc. all need something to anchor them in place or hold them upright.  You can use string, rope or guy wire to hold things up but you’ll end up tripping over them while working on your display.  Go to the home center, buy 10 or 20 foot lengths of rebar and cut them down to two, three and four foot lengths.  Pound them in the ground next to whatever needs support.  Use the green twisty tie stuff preferred by gardeners to secure the item to the rebar.  Rebar works great and is easy to remove and store at the end of the season.  If you have time, paint the rebar black so it won’t reflect light. 

Be extra careful using your ladder.  Don’t be tempted to reach out too far when you’re at the top.  By falling off and getting hurt, no one gets to see the display and the medical costs eat up your display expansion plans.  Go ahead and properly move the ladder when needed.  You might also consider buying an extendable painter’s pole and putting a hook on the end to help hang your elevated lights.  The older I get the shorter my display becomes because I prefer keeping both feet planted firmly on the ground. 

Assume there will be some vandalism.  A shotgun is my preferred method of taking care of this irritant but frowned upon by the local law enforcement.  Catching someone in the act is certainly worth a splat from a paintball gun but you have to stay awake and on guard all night.  If you think about it, darkness and an easy get-a-way are important to the troublemakers.  Once your display is setup, get a long steel cable (like used for an outside dog leash), run it through and around the valuable items of your display and padlock the ends to a tree or big spike.  You might also consider turning on a couple of flood or street lights after your display has gone dark for the evening as well as leaving a light on in the bedroom(s) facing the display.  Another deterrent is plenty of HIGH VOLTAGE signs around the perimeter of your display.  I’ve found the chances of trouble are usually on Friday and Saturday night when a few young people are looking for something to do. 

Plan for traffic problems now.  If your display has been around for a few years, you probably have a pretty good stream of visitors, especially on weekends and close to Christmas.  Contact your local government and get their advice on keeping the traffic flowing.  If you have an automated display, make the shows shorter during peak viewing times to keep the traffic moving.  If you anticipate some irritated neighbors, go ahead and invest in an off-duty policeman to direct traffic on busy nights… the neighbors will know you care and they will also make sure the policeman gets plenty of coffee and Christmas cookies.  Finally, if you’re on any of the limousine services “Christmas Light” circuits, call the companies and ask they recognize you live in a residential neighborhood, keep their occupants quiet and don’t block driveways. 

Don’t worry about contacting the media.  If you have a great Christmas display, they’ll find you.  Start practicing now the questions they’ll ask.  How many lights do you have?  How big is your electric bill?  How long have you been doing this?  Why do you do this?  How many people a night see your display?  Know the answers ahead of time.  When they ask the “What’s your favorite Christmas display story?” question, keep the answer to less than 30 seconds.  If it’s the newspaper calling, speak slowly so you’re quoted correctly.  If it’s TV, look at the reporter and speak in a natural voice as if he/she is the only person in the world.  Finally, if you are responding to negative press, remember there is no rule saying you have to answer a reporter’s question.  Stay positive and focus on the holiday gift you are giving the community. 

Safety:  Some of you might remember the TV show called Hill Street Blues from back in the 80’s.  At the end of every roll call meeting the head sergeant always said  "And, hey - let's be careful out there."  During the month of November, nothing could be more appropriate to the serious decorating enthusiast.

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What’s New at PlanetChristmas?

PlanetChristmas has an Internet radio station playing Christmas music 7x24 through December.  See the details at http://www.planetchristmas.com/InternetRadio.htm

Enter the Worldwide Christmas Decorating Contest for 2005! 

Heard about this year’s worldwide contest?  Three categories, $3100 in prizes and the chance to call your display “the world’s best!”  Go to http://www.planetchristmas.com/WWContest2005.htm for all the details.

Help us Grow for PLUS2007! 

If you attended either of our PlanetChristmas Lights Up Symposium (PLUS) events, you know what a great time it is.  Not only is there so much being taught by the instructors, but you learn even more networking and sharing information with others. 

The key to success of PLUS2007 is the continued growth of enthusiasts within the PlanetChristmas community.  As we enter this holiday season, take the opportunity to tell fellow decorators in your area about PlanetChristmas.com. 

Got a Newsletter Topic Suggestion? 

Have a suggestion for a main topic in a future PlanetChristmas newsletter?  Send us an email:  csmith@planetchristmas.com!

Next time: look forward to more Christmas decorating tips. 

Chuck Smith of PlanetChristmas