Derek Durkac

Every year when I go and plug my arches in. To see if the lights work...... Only 2 sections out of 8 work. I do not understand why..... Are they too tight.... Am i using the wrong lights. I have been using.led lights. Does anyone have any pointers of how to store arches after use or some tips of why the lights dont work the next year.

I started setting up my Christmad Display right after Halloween. It takes me 2 weeks to set up. This year was hard because we got hit with 5 cm of snow on Halloween. I live in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. With regards to putting the lights on ...... I wait until the cities Santa Clause parade is finished. So we turned our lights on November 21. Also WE never turn our christmas lights on before Rememberance Day. Its usually around November 20 week. I give respect too all that have and are still serving in the military around the world. Many people get upset when I start setting up November 1. But due to weather and my shift work schedule.... I have too.

Every year I try to add to my Christmas display. For 2019 I built a "Star Wars" Christmas Theme for my display. Darth Vader riding his sleigh with 2 Taun Tauns, BB8, Yoda, and a snowspeeder wrapping christmas lights around a AT-AT's legs.

Yes that's a great idea but the lights will get covered with 1-2 feet of snow. Is there any way of raising the lights above the roofline.

This year I want to add c9 lights to the ridges of my roofline but I cannot determine how to put them onto my roofline without damaging my shingles ........... Also I get about 1 -2 feet of snow on my roof during the winter. Can anyone give me some advice.......pictures would help out a lot .

Have you started on your santas workshop........... What is it going to look like, do you have a picture of what you have done yet.

Great job on your pond " beloved". Love the Charlie Brown skaters.

I get a lot of snow where I live so my display is a little more work........ But well worth it. Can you post some pics.

Do you get a lot of snow covering up your pond display.

Does anyone have any problems with the snow falling and covering the pond and lights. I live up in Canada , Sudbury , Ontario and we get lots of snow from December through to march. I want to build a pond as we'll, and my idea is to use 2 sheete of 4x8 sheets of ply wood and raise it off the grass with bricks. You then trace out the pattern of the pond on the plywood and then cut it out. Then cut holes all over the plywood ,so you can stick lights through them from underneath the plywood and staple them to the underside of the plywood using a mixture of white and blue led lights. Before adding the lights paint the entire plywood pond with white paint (3 coats) and add some blue painted details to resemble streaks in the water. Then add your sculptures and then the lights. You will have a great effect and when snow does come it will give it a great effect. After adding the sculptures you can add clear plastic to protect the lights and will still give a great effect. Also you can add small pieces of 2x2's around the perimeter of your pond and add a set of white lights around the pond. Hope this gives some ideas because next year I will be making this project. Can you post some pictures I would love to see what your pond looks like. Thanks Derek Durkac.

]The frame of the Gingerbread house as shown in the pictures is made out of pallets that is 5feet x 5 feet. As seen in the pictures I used scrap 2x4's and 2x2's to build the walls and roof. The Sides of the house are made from left over panelling which is brown already. The icicles and trim were then painted white - 3 coats of white paint with a weather protected spray paint (clear). We get lots of snow up here.I used left over blue patterned plexi glass for the windows. All the wood is fastened with screws and some nails. If you want some plans for this Gingerbread House I went on the web site and found information on dog houses. I used a dog house blueprint but made my own measurements for the Gingerbread House. I hope this gives you an idea on how I built the Gingerbread house. Any other questions I will be happy to answer them.

I used poodle noodles from the dollar store to resemble candies. They were $1.00 each and I cut them to the size of candies. The longer coloured candies on the roof and chimney were also bought at the dollar store. The total cost of this project is approximately $50.00 and about 300 hours of hard labour. All the lights are led lights and were purchased at the end of christmas season at 75 percent off.

I wanted to do something new and very creative with my 2012-20123 Christmas display. In January of 2012 I broke my ankle and was out of commission for 6 months. This gave me plenty of time to create and design my Gingerbread House for my 20112-2013 display. This display is made from scrap wood, pallets, and panelling.The size se is 5ftx5ft. The frame is made out of 2x2's and the roof as well. I decided to use brown panelling for the sides and roof of the house. I also made a chimmney. Made 2 windows and a door with a real handle. I cut out the icicles out of scrap wood and painted it white.. I then added candy canes to the sides of the Gingerbread house. There are about 650 lights to the house.

Try using a Christmas tree stand that makes the tree turn around....you can use that for your characters!!!

Thanks for the pics and information......this is definately a must do project for 2013.