TED

That is no longer true. A few years back eBay changed the fee structure to include selling price and shipping for exactly the reason you stated. Too many dishonest sellers were gouging on the shipping cost to get around fees. TED

Or to stock up on everything you might want from Gen Foam before the end of the year! TED

Oh no! What terrible news! Say it isn't so! I had not heard anything about this until now. I'll reply to some of the posts later after I have time for this to sink in... TED

That's an awesome display (and great video from the drone)! It took me a minute to figure out why there were farm animals on the roof! TED

Welcome to Planet Christmas! You have a huge display of Hambergers (pun intended)! I couldn't help wondering if there is any room left inside! I like the skater laying on his back. (Help, I've fallen and I can't get up!") TED

Awesome!

Soon it will be 90%! TED

Occasionally some people get lucky but most of the time the answer will be no on clearance items. TED

Some of the Kroger multicolor LED sets have fewer blue bulbs than the other colors. (Blue LEDs cost more.) If you use those sets next to sets with balanced colors the difference is very noticeable. TED

I know that you were just making a humorous post but I can't help replying. Even if the light strings would hold up and even if they would stretch when the tree grows so that they don't break, you would still need a very tall ladder. Trees do not continue growing up from the ground. The part of the tree you hang the lights on this year will never get any higher off the ground. A tree does not get taller by moving the existing parts of the tree upwards. A tree gets taller by sending up new growth. If you measured 3 feet up from the ground and put a nail in a small tree, in 30 years that n

Does caffeine cause people to not use punctuation!? TED

I think solder + heat shrink tape + more of your time = a higher cost than buying a few more of the correct plugs. The 20 or 22 gauge will not carry as much of a load as 18 gauge zip cord. It would be important to keep that in mind when using cords made with the plugs from Christmas lights. Your factory Christmas light wires aren't carrying the load of an 18 gauge extension cord. I think the point is that using the Christmas light plugs will reduce the load that zip cord could normally carry. There was a thread about how to convert old strings into extension cords. The pe

Where do you get that? How expensive is it? TED

You are right. I think the best answer is to donate money to the Salvation Army or other groups that help the homeless. This way the money will go to people who are actually in need. Sadly, that is the most unfortunate effect of the con artists. TED

I share your suspicion. Twice I've had panhandlers tell me the same story that they told me on a previous occasion. The answer is to simply say, "You told me the same story last time!" I did this both times. The first guy immediately turned and walked away. The second was a woman who immediately made up another story about having 4 kids. The first time I saw her panhandling at the grocery store. I saw a fancy new pickup truck let her out I assume to "work the lot" while it waited on the far side. It is offensive to be lied to. It's even more offensive to know that the panhandler do

Don't make any holes in the roof and you won't have to worry about leaving holes! I think most of the people who put things on the roof make platforms that match the angle of the roof and then use sandbags to keep them in place. If you search around in the forums here you can probably find examples. TED

Now this is a GREAT Head's Up post! The price on the 6 footers is even better than the Dollar store! (It's weird that the 12' and the 15' cords are the same price.) We don't have Menard's down here in the South. TED

I don't know if this would work but it might be worth a try. (I'm assuming these are incandescent bulbs not LED.) The twinkle is accomplished when electricity heats up the twinkle mechanism in the bulb and opens the circuit. If the current was reduced it seems logical that it would take longer to heat up and therefore reduce the twinkle rate. With that in mind, I think maybe you could use a dimmer to reduce the current to the lights. You could play around with it and see if you could slow the twinkling down to the rate you want. TED

It wouldn't be too bad to go through all the bulbs in a burned out section (probably 50 bulbs). Using a little bulb tester would speed it up a bit. TED

That's exactly what I was trying to say but you expressed it much better! I also wondered what supplier you prefer for the zip cords and supplies. Action Lighting is great. (I have ordered other stuff from them with good results.) Although I have not bought any I like the zip cord that Creative Displays sells because it has UV inhibitor added to the insulation (so in theory it should last longer). I love the long line of snowmen! TED

I feel pretty sure that this is not original. It looks like someone just modified a standard Gen Foam Pumpkin Pail by adding doll arms. Because the handle is the small round type rather than the wide flat type I think the pail was made in the last few years. For some reason this thing just creeps me out. Yuck! http://www.ebay.com/itm/221324559459 TED

1. In my opinion it is definitely a snowlady even though it was listed as a snowman in the catalog. That is a small snowperson (about 20 inches) so I don't think it would "fill the gap" if it is the only snowperson in your display. The price seems ok. (They are certainly being sold for more on eBay.) 2. As Mel mentioned the yellow band on the hat suggests that it is a Gen Foam snowman. I'm pretty sure that Gen Foam was the only company to make it with the yellow band. I believe they are painting the entire hat black now. For $40 you could buy a new one so it seems high for a used o

Those are almost as fuzzy as pictures by Brad Caudil! TED

I'm sorry I didn't see this sooner. The trick of course it to not pay shipping. There is a guy in Memphis selling new 'molds that may have what you need. It may be too late for this year but you could get him to order them for you next year. http://christmaslightscreations.com/ Another option would be to attend one of the Christmas conventions next year and buy/sell/trade with other blowmolders. TED

I think you shouldn't worry about it too much. I remember someone on here who collected Santas. I think he had an all Santa display. (I can't remember who it was!) There was a house that I used to go visit every year that had a Santa sleigh and 9 reindeer on all 4 sides of his house. There was also a Mr./Mrs. Claus and a couple other Santas. TED