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Newsletter November 2008

It's About Time!

Welcome to your November 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 November 2008 newsletter:

Show Time!

It's after Thanksgiving, and people are really talking about Christmas... in-between the never-ending bad news about the economy. The days of instant gratification and not worrying about debt are behind us. Multiple professional Christmas designers have told me they see society shifting back to the fundamentals of Christmas and the holidays. I certainly agree.

Christmas is all about memory and traditions. We all remember elaborate Christmas displays from our childhood. A Smith family tradition is to always drive around town and look at the Christmas light displays both inside and out. Thank goodness PlanetChristmas community members are out making it easy.

Many have been plotting and planning elaborate displays since last year and it's your time to shine! You're making lifelong memories for countless others.

If you have visions of an elaborate display for 2008 and work has barely begun, it might be time to scale back what you have in mind for this year. The biggest complaint I hear every year from newbies is how they always under estimate the time required for building a great display. Instead, consider this a learning year.

But...

I strongly believe there is no such thing as a bad Christmas display. If you create something to share with others to celebrate this wonderful time of year, you're doing it for all the right reasons. Don't let me hold you back. Even a small display is better than nothing. Get to work!

Handling Traffic

Many of us build grand Christmas displays and assume the world will beat a path to our door to see what we've created. Have you ever thought through what will happen if they really do? How are you going to handle the streams of cars? What about the irritated neighbors? Then there are the people totally oblivious to anyone around them. I've seen it all over the years. I went from having just a few cars driving by each night to traffic jams, fender benders and satellite trucks broadcasting live from my house. What a zoo. Ended up having to hire off-duty police officers to keep order... expensive and in most cases avoidable with a little more planning.

If you know you're going to have a big display, go ahead and plan now for the traffic. If you haven't already talked to your neighbors, warn them as soon as you can.

Make up a bunch of small signs to post along the front of your display at ground level, out of the normal sightline for the lights. If you have a website and radio station, put it on a sign. I always put up a "Technical Specifications" sign with all the display details for the curious. Also post the hours your display is viewable and limit those hours based on the tolerance of your neighbors. If your display cuts off at 10:00pm and there's a knock at your door at 10:15 begging to turn it back on, simply refer them to the signs and whatever you do, don't turn the lights on or you'll irritate the neighbors and people will never stop knocking at your door.

Christmas displays synchronized to music are real traffic stoppers. If your typical show is five songs, consider scaling it back to one or two songs on weekends with calm music and simple fading lights between sets so the traffic has a chance to move through.

The best thing you can do is sneak through your neighbor's yard and walk around your display as a typical viewer and watch how others watch. You'll be amazed at what you learn and can improve upon next year.

The bottom line is you're making lifelong memories for so many others and you want those to be grand memories!

Christmas Villages You Control?

Got a great submission to the PlanetChristmas Showing Off section from Sean Pluard. He went the opposite direction from most and made his Christmas display smaller in 2008 (as like an extravagant Christmas Village on a table top.) At the same time Sean is letting you see it live on the Internet AND letting you control the animated lights. Way too cool. Check it out at NoelCam.com. It's on line 24x7 through the end of 2008.

Showing Off for PlanetChristmas

PlanetChristmas has a long tradition of publishing photos of Christmas displays. It's your chance to show off while at the same time getting ideas from others. A little known side benefit is the media mines the PlanetChristmas website looking for stories. I constantly get requests on specific pictures.

It's easy to submit a picture of your 2008 display. Just go to the PlanetChristmas Showing Off section for details.

Return of the World Wide Decorating Contest

It's back! The PlanetChristmas World Wide Christmas Decorating Contest for 2008 is returning bigger and better than ever before. This year there are categories for Newbies as well as LED based displays. Winners get appropriate prizes and a feature article in PlanetChristmas magazine. Find more details by going to the World Wide Contest section of PlanetChristmas.

Rudolph's Rumor Run

Lots of rumors swirling around out there. I usually ignore them, but some just need to be shared.

Bad economy... Merchant sales are down... Take advantage of the Christmas decoration deals because they'll be happening before Christmas this year instead of the normal day after.

Got any juicy bits of gossip you want to share with the PlanetChristmas community? Send a tip to csmith@PlanetChristmas.com

PLUS2009

Mark your PLUS2009 calendars for July 29 through August 1, 2009 in Louisville, Kentucky. It's our gathering of people that decorate for Christmas, whether personal or professsional.

I was recently in Louisville nailing down more details for our event. If you had a great time at a previous PLUS, get ready to have an even better time at this one. We're at the huge Kentucky International Convention Center that's convenient to everything.

You'll note PLUS2009 is now 3.5 days of nonstop activities. We start Wednesday right after lunch and go through Saturday night and our gala banquet.

Want an easy way to keep up with PLUS information? Go to the new website at www.gotoPLUS.com. It's the first place official PLUS information is shared with others. PLUS2009 registration begins January 1, 2009.

Cookie Recipe of the month

Bet you didn't know we're cookie lovers at PlanetChristmas. I'm always searching for the next great recipe. Checkout a few at http://www.planetchristmas.com/Cookies.htm. Here's the latest that's sure to add a few inches to the waistline...

Were you asking "how in the world can I mix my two favorite foods into one delicious taste treat?" Hmmmm. Maybe that was me... potato chips and chocolate. How about a potato chip cookie drizzled with chocolate? Perfect!

  • 1 cup butter
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla or vanilla paste
  • 1 3/4 cups flour
  • 1 cup crushed potato chips

Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add 1 teaspoon vanilla and flour gradually and beat until blended. Stir in the potato chips. Drop by teaspoonful onto an un-greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees in the oven for 13 to 15 minutes.

While cookies are baking, make chocolate gnash to drizzle over them

  • 8 oz. semi sweet chocolate
  • 1/4 quart heavy cream

Bring cream to a boil, add chocolate and whip till smooth.

After the cookies have cooled drizzle the chocolate gnash over the tops. Makes 3 dozen incredible cookies.

Checked out PlanetChristmas Links?

We've added a feature to the PlanetChristmas forums called PlanetChristmas Links. Submit your favorite websites for a variety of categories and they will be put in the forums database for other people to easily find. Check it out by going to the forums and look along the top navigation bar for "PlanetChristmas Links" or just goto http://forums.planetchristmas.com/links. One note though... you must be registered in the forums before you can add to PlanetChristmas Links.

Never forget PlanetChristmas believes strongly in protecting your privacy so personal information about your account is never sold or shared with anyone.

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

Tell the World What's Happening in Your Area!

With our PlanetChristmas forums, did you know there's a section where you can go down to the state level and post information about what's going on. Use this to let your community know about events and also remember to place important dates on our public calendar. Want a shortcut to the PlanetChristmas forums? http://forums.planetchristmas.com

PlanetChristmas Tip of the Month

What about LED based Christmas lights? They're bright, pure in color and use very little electricity. The bad news is they are a bit pricey and have unusual electrical characteristics if you have a computerized display. Buy a few strands of LEDs this year and put them somewhere in your display. Learn what they can and cannot do and use your knowledge in 2009!

PlanetChristmas Radio is Totally Revamped and on the Internet!

The PlanetChristmas radio station has been totally revamped for Christmas 2008 and is available 24/7 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. There's a new way to register for the newsletter that complies 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...

If ever there's a time to have a great Christmas display, this is the year. Economic times are tough and people want to believe things are getting better. Christmas is the perfect time of year to bring people together and your decorations are just what the doctored ordered!

Next time: look forward to more Christmas decorating tips.

Chuck Smith of PlanetChristmas