It's About Time!

Welcome to your July/August 2006 edition of the PlanetChristmas newsletter!  It is published regularly and covers relative topics for the Christmas decorating enthusiast.  A web version of this newsletter can be found at http://www.planetchristmas.com/NLJulyAugust06.htm.

Getting ready for Christmas 2006 

It’s August and believe it or not, time for many of us to start thinking seriously about our Christmas displays.  Disneyworld began setting up their five million light extravaganza this month.  I was in Hobby Lobby last week and saw the shelves were being stocked with mini-lights.  There are rumors Garden Ridge is already selling Christmas lights and I’m willing to bet Wal-Mart, Target and K-Mart have warehouses of stuff ready to be trucked to their stores.  Many of us also got our Christmas catalogs from www.ActionLighting.com last week.  What a wonderful time of year! 

As our heads start dreaming of twinkling lights reflecting in the eyes of children watching our displays, it’s easy to get overwhelmed with all the work we want to do.  If you’re new to setting up Christmas displays, start small.  If you’ve been at it for a few years, remember to grow a little every season.  If you’re a seasoned pro, take a really good inventory of what you have and think about changing around your display to use some of those vintage items this year. 

The biggest challenge we all have is keeping expectations in line with our pocketbooks.  It’s very easy to get carried away, buy too much and become disappointed when we don't get everything done.  I can’t stress enough the importance of beginning small and expanding a little each season. 

Tom B. from the PlanetChristmas chatroom started a good thread recently.  He admits to being a decorating addict and then gives some great tips to get the items you want for this year’s display as well as save a little money.  Here are excerpts (some are edited) from his original post:

My PlanetChristmas chatroom name is TOM B. and I am a Christmas Light Addict! I have not, and will not calculate the cost of my display.  But, I am thinking about making it weather tight so I can live in it when I cannot make my house payment in January.

Steps I'm taking to save money:

• Searched the Internet for the cheapest location for the garland.  I ended up talking to the manager at Hobby Lobby -- he says they have them on sale every year ... and the price he quoted me is cheaper than any place I have (so far) found on the net.
• Made an investment in LEDs for this project.  Searched the Internet and PlanetChristmas to find the vendors who could provide such at a reasonable cost, and prior to when they would be in the stores.  The LED section of the PlanetChristmas chatroom helped greatly in this endeavor.
• I am walking through Lowes and several other stores weekly to watch for extension cords to go on sale.
• I am also lurking in several stores to watch for Christmas items to be stocked and marked for early purchases.  
  • Some items that are new or are "not proven, must have items" often have not been ordered by store buyers in large quantities.  So, if you see something you like early, buy it ... you may not get a second chance. 
  • Some stores have a "no return policy" on Christmas items -- others have 100% satisfaction guarantee.  Pay attention to this when you purchase anything, particularly Christmas decorations.

Steps for budgeting:

• Set a budget maximum ... and LIVE with in it!
• If you have to scale back, do so.  Only you will know what your show "could have been" if you had an endless amount of cash.  So, start with what you can reasonably afford.
• Spend a little each month, instead of all at once.  Buy extension cords a few at a time throughout the year ... it is easier to budget over 12 months.

Everything Tom B. says makes sense, especially budgeting over the entire year.  Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, when the rest of the world is spending billions of dollars on Christmas decorations and fighting long lines at the stores, I’m spending nothing because I’ve been plotting, planning and buying the other eleven months.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been walking through a craft or hardware store between January and September, seen an unusual part, immediately thought of a way to use it in the Christmas display and bought it on the spot.  Bottom line: buying Christmas decorations a little at a time, but year round makes it much easier on the pocketbook.

Tip of the Month 

Got a Christmas website?  Now’s the time to clean it up, make sure all the hyperlinks still work and insert some blank pages for your 2006 display pictures.  Once the decorating begins, the last thing you’ll want to think about is revamping the website.  Don’t have a website?  Creating one is easier than you think.  Check with your Internet Service Provider (ISP) and you might already be eligible for a free site on their platform.  If you want a more public site with a great name (sorry, www.PlanetChristmas.com is already spoken for,) do an Internet search for “website provider” and you’ll be overwhelmed by choices.  Even better, checkout the “Web Sites for Christmas and building them” forum in the PlanetChristmas chatroom for some great advice.

What’s New at PlanetChristmas? 

The www.PlanetChristmas.com website has just been revamped.  Some users were having trouble with the fancy Flash graphics, so the site has been simplified.  Wonder around.  You’ll be amazed at what can be learned.   

This time of year, my favorite PlanetChristmas webpage is http://www.planetchristmas.com/FigurePower.htm.  It gives information on how much current various types of Christmas lights consume.  Planning ahead to distribute your power load makes things much easier the first night you light up the display and have to run around resetting electrical circuit breakers. 

Checked the Chatroom Lately? 

Talking about a gold mine of information, this is the place!  If you haven’t found it yet, go to http://www.planetchristmas.com/talk.htm.  We’ve recently added new forums and made it a little easier to get around.  Once you’re a member, feel free to change the look and feel of the chatroom by going to “My Account/Preferences/Board Theme.”  Also remember the part of the chatroom you can see when not logged in is indexed by the Internet search engines, but once you’re a registered member, many new forums open up but are invisible to the search engines.  PlanetChristmas believes strongly in protecting your privacy.

Got something to Announce/Buy/Sell/Trade? 

We’ve added a dedicated classified ads website at http://classifieds.planetchristmas.com.  There are no fees for the PlanetChristmas community.

Don’t forget Blogging and Instant Messaging! 

Just start at http://www.planetchristmas.com/talk.htm if you want to read/write a blog and instant message with others in the PlanetChristmas community.

Help us Grow for PLUS2007! 

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

Just in case you haven’t heard yet, PLUS2007 will be in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, August 2-4, 2007.  Watch for a new www.plus2007.com website to be unveiled in early September.  The site will provide all the details about classes being taught, vendors and how to register for the event. 

The key to success for PLUS2007 is the continued growth of the PlanetChristmas community.  Check the PlanetChristmas chatroom and calendar for the possibility of a local mini-PLUS in your area during 2006 while waiting for PLUS2007.

Newsletter Suggestion? 

Have a suggestion for a main topic or want to write an article for a future PlanetChristmas newsletter?  Send us an email:  newsletter@planetchristmas.com!  If you know someone that really should subscribe to your newsletter, send them to http://www.planetchristmas.com/Newsletters.htm

Next time: look forward to more Christmas decorating tips. 

Chuck Smith of PlanetChristmas