Griffith Santa - Automated Christmas Lights & A Christmas Story Fanatic

New Christmas Story?

2012-01-19T21:51:00.004-06:00

What? Why?
‘A Christmas Story’ Sequel in Pre-production

And an update, if you want to be in Christmas Story Too, answer the casting call

Valentines Day Christmas Lights

2012-01-16T14:03:00.000-06:00

I am not one to put up lights for Valentines Day, I stick to my Christmas Lights and that is more than enough. Do you put of Valentine's Day Lights? Where do you get them?

Department 56 Ralphie Visits Santa

2012-01-05T16:11:00.000-06:00

Ralphie Visits Santa

Been remiss in blogging about my Christmas haul in regards to a Christmas Story houses and accessories from Department 56. 2011 Was the year or to fill out the neighborhood. This included Department 56 Ralphie Visits Santa which is a must have with the Higbee's Department Store. With all of the pub that bad pictures with Santa gets and the always-hysterical visit Ralphie and Randy have with Santa, the visit to Santa accessory was perfect. More to come on other items I received.

Automated Christmas Light Secrets

2011-12-29T09:50:00.002-06:00

GREAT article on how to create your own automated Christmas light show (whether with Mr. Christmas or not)...sums it up perfectly. 20 Secrets Behind Unbelievable Christmas Lights Displays.

They might be in your neighborhood, or in the town next door: Grand, elaborate Christmas displays that light up the block for the holiday season, sometimes drawing thousands of onlookers. Some of this year's most ornate displays include Fred Loya's home in El Paso, Texas, the "Dyker Lights" display in New York, Mike Cole's home in Cour D'Alene, Idaho and displays by neighbors Jeff Norford and Bobby Morris in Charlottesville, Va.

Angry Birds Christmas Lights = Awesome

2011-12-28T14:24:00.002-06:00

Let the American Sale sales begin

2011-12-22T10:40:00.001-06:00

In classic American Sale style, they are "drastically" reducing prices on blowmolds, outdoor Christmas decorations, and Christmas lights. Good sign they are starting early, but I normally wait until after Christmas to get great deals on LED Lights. If you have been to American Sale, let me know what sales you found of interest.

Great Automated Christmas Light Video

2011-12-22T10:32:00.002-06:00

Lunacy in Lights has a great display. Enjoy

Review of A Christmas Story

2011-12-15T15:33:00.002-06:00

A Christmas Story the Musical (@AChristmasStory) has started it's holiday run in Chicago and opened to great reviews. Just a snippet from the Chicago Tribune:

It's true that "A Christmas Story, The Musical" tracks the famous 1983 movie closely — if it did not, most of the audience would demand refunds — and was clearly determined to honor the movie's numerous quirks and not merely drown everything in seasonal sentiment. But if you just want to relive those amusing scenes of frozen tongues et al., then TBS has an "A Christmas Story" marathon coming up in a week. The producers of this musical clearly understood they had to offer a deeper emotional experience, more of a celebration of an ordinary family filled with eccentrics, struggling for money but lucky in love

Add FM Transmitter to Your Mr. Christmas Lights and Sounds of Christmas

2011-12-01T16:24:00.001-06:00

If you are looking to be less of an annoyance to the neighbors by saving them from the music of the Lights and Sounds of Christmas, it may be a good idea to add an FM Transmitter to your Mr. Christmas. This may seem like a daunting task, but it is fairly simple and does not require an electrician apprenticeship.

The Lights and Sounds of Christmas has a simple speaker setup where the speaker is connected via white and orange wires. Find the speaker (can't miss it) and find the wires. Those wires are soldered to the board. To add a connection for an FM transmitter, buy an RCA plug, strip the end of the wires and solder them to the same connection as the white and orange wires. Run the RCA plug out of your Mr. Christmas, attach an RCA phono plug coupler, then simply plug your FM transmitter stereo jack into the coupler and you are good to go!

If you have added an FM transmitter to your Lights and Sounds of Christmas, please comment below and tell me how you did it.

Christmas Tree Infographic

2011-11-28T14:16:00.001-06:00

Interesting infographic from http://www.allinone.co.uk/ecommerce/christmas/artificial-trees/

Automated Christmas Lights How To

2011-11-26T09:18:00.001-06:00

I have been reading the Dirknerkle's Lights how to guide and it is a great primer on how to plan your light show and how to be smart while decorating. Info includes planning, building a mini tree, wiring & sequencing. Great guide...if you have seen the Dirknerkle light show, let me know.

Santa Hanging from Roof & Gutter

2011-11-26T08:34:00.001-06:00

I am about to buy Santa Hanging from the Roof, but I am concerned it will blow around too much since I do not have a great way to tether him down and do not want to be on the roof mid December trying to fix him :) Has anyone gotten this hanging Santa and hung him from the gutter or roofline? I think it is hysterical, but may not be worth the aggravation in the wind. Comments appreciated!!

Menards Enchanted Forest Delivers Again

2011-11-25T20:00:00.000-06:00

As much as I hate to buy lights or blowmolds during the prime season and would like to wait for the post-Christmas light sales, I just needed some C7 LEDs. So I headed over to the Enchanted Forest at Menards and found multi color C7s that I needed. Better still , they had just enough spools of lights for my needs. While there is very little new in the Enchanted Forest, they did have some new, unique inflatables and the melting LED icicles that I referenced. But, the icicles are so short and so pricey (even if they are neat ass hell) that I could just not justify the purchase. I have gone the way of buying real trees these past few years, but the artificial trees at Menards almost changed that. They had a few very real looking trees that were pre-lit with LEDs, but I pulled myself away in favor of buying a real tree for charity. If you head to Menards Enchanted Forest, leave a comment on whaat you bought (and what your forced yourself NOT to buy).

Leg Lamp is in The Window

2011-11-25T19:07:00.001-06:00

And to top of my Christmas decorating for the day, I could not help but sneak my prized leg lamp into the front window. Makes me laugh each year.

Griswold Christmas

2011-11-25T17:45:00.001-06:00

Griswold Christmas

Seeing as I was on the roof for a better part of the day attaching thousands of twinkling lights (LEDs that is), I think this short is appropriate and a must have for me. The Griswold Family Christmas.

Walter E. Smithe Brothers Latest TV Ad Campaign Pays Tribute to A Christmas Story

2011-11-22T08:34:00.001-06:00

Smithe brothers at it again this year

QVC Pre-Black Friday Sales

2011-11-22T08:26:00.001-06:00

From toys to laptops to Christmas decorations, Shop the deals you want on the gifts they want during the Better than Black Friday Preview sale at QVC.com today!

Mega Tree with Lights and Sounds of Mr. Christmas

2011-11-18T14:26:00.003-06:00

Lights and Sounds is a great tool for automated Christmas lights which adorn your house. I have decorated with Mr. Christmas for years and this year I wanted to change it up a bit and do some more unique light automation. Here are some ideas I had for Mr. Christmas Lights and Sounds of Christmas:

Series of Synchronized Tomato Cage Christmas Trees

Perhaps the simplest idea of them all, wrap multiple tomato cages with lights, set them up any way you want (in line, randomly placed in the yard, on an entry path, etc.), connect each tree to a single outlet on the Lights and Sounds of Christmas and you are set! This easy, each tree is synchronized and you let Mr. Christmas take care of the rest!

Mr. Christmas for a Mega Tree

I have seen plenty of mega trees built with LOR and they are fantastic. If you want a quick and dirty mega tree, why not use Lights and Sounds of Mr. Christmas? Here is my high-level thought:
-- Build your mega tree
-- String the lights over the peak of the mega tree so that the same colored light strands are opposite each other
-- String as many strands of lights as you want just make sure they are in an even amount (since Mr. Christmas has six outlets)
-- If you space the lights correctly and connect them to one another, you can easily automate a mega tree with Lights and Sounds of Mr. Christmas

What am I missing? What other unique ways do you have to use the Lights and Sounds to automate your lights? Comment below!

Shop Goodwill?

2011-11-01T10:55:00.000-05:00

PlanetChristmas forums recently had this string on Shopgoodwill.com and blowmolds for sale. I had never heard of the site but plan to check it out. If you have shopped on the Goodwill site, please comment on your experience.

Menards for C6 LED Light Spools

2011-11-01T10:29:00.001-05:00

As I build up my automated Christmas light show for this year, I made an early run to the Menards Enchanted Forest. Among the items are the constants…inflatables, blowmolds, etc. But, I went on a mission to find multicolor C6 LED light spools and Menards did not disappoint.

I plan to use these C6s for my roofline and alternate the fade with my light controllers between the multicolor and the icicle light strands I have had for years. Even though I measure the roofline, it is always difficult to not buy more than I need. So with an intent to buy three spools of lights, I walked out with six (hey, I can always find more places to hang Christmas lights, right?).

I recommend Menards for your Christmas needs. They seem to have more variety and space dedicated to Christmas decorating. Home Depot seems to devote less square footage each year, Lowes is decent. The only store better than Menards, in my estimation, is American Sale. If you want to find Santa and reindeer blowmolds all the way through Mickey Mouse inflatables, American Sale is the way to go. Only issue is that they do not have as many locations as the Big Box stores…but worth the drive.

Have You Voted for the Chicago Christmas Tree

2011-10-19T16:29:00.000-05:00

Not exactly a beauty contest, but go vote for the Chicago Christmas Tree.

Anyone Use Starlight Spheres for Christmas Decorating?

2011-10-02T10:53:00.000-05:00

I am considering using starlight spheres in my large tree as accompaniment to my rope light snowflakes. Does anyone use starlight spheres? If so, how do you use them (trees, roofline, porch, etc.) or any other ingenious ways? Also, any recommendations on where to get the spheres is much appreciated. Feel free to leave comments below!

Menards Christmas Lights & Decorations Now Available

2011-10-02T10:44:00.000-05:00

Could not help but go check out Menards today and glad I did. Back already is the Enchanted Forest full of Christmas goods. Seems like there are more blowmolds than usual including Santas, soldiers, angels, and reindeer. They are carrying the vertical chasing icicle lights that appear to be melting. Still not ready to jump on those yet since they were over $25 for only 10 ft of icicle lights. I picked up a good selection of C7 LED lights (went for colored lights instead of pure white). They had a few new stars, also. Normally it is rope lights tars, but they now have some color changing LED stars and snowflakes which is great to see.

Daley Plaza Christmas Tree in Chicago

2011-09-07T15:03:00.000-05:00

Never too early to let the mind roam to te idea of a Chicago Christmas. between the Disney and Thanksgiving parades to the Kringle Market and lunch under the Macy's (Marshall Fields) Tree, Chicago comes alive for Christmas. See how the search for the Daley Plaza tree goes...City Begins Search For Daley Plaza Christmas Tree

Set of 2 6-Outlet Swivel Surge and Swivel Tap Outlets - QVC.com

2011-09-01T09:17:00.000-05:00

Set of 2 6-Outlet Swivel Surge and Swivel Tap Outlets

I came across these swivel outlets on QVC's Joy of Christmas last week. They just arrived and are life savers. Forget the fact that I NOW have more outlets to use, but these bad boys lay flat. Which means my six plugs are not sticking out into the room, garage, tree, or furniture. They ALSO have a surge protector to protect my lights Right on. Cannot wait to use these swivel outlets.