Chuck Smith

2010
Christmas pain
Stupidity could be broadly defined as being ignorant, refusing to learn from past experiences on account of ego and in an informal sense as not being alert both physically as well as mentally. Why do I give you this definition? Well… I was asked by my friend Tim if I would help him decorate four medium sized trees at the church we both attended. I was done decorating my display so I said “Sure.” We were to meet that night at 7:00. That afternoon, I packed all the Christmas lights and cords in my car. Later, several people came over…
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2010
Starting a Christmas business
In the last three editions of PlanetChristmas magazine, I’ve written about sequencing a display for others, planning your own large scale display and a behind the scenes look at two large commercial displays. This month I’d like to take the column in a slightly different direction by sharing with you why I started a Christmas lighting business and how I balance a start-up opportunity with a full time job. Ask twenty owners of small businesses why they started and you are likely to get twenty different answers. Most will say they wanted to control their own fate or they had…
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2010
Channel explosion in sequencing
Every year is the same. You’ve picked out all the new pieces for your display, performed the power calculations, assembled all the new elements into a great design, know exactly how many control channels are being used and then it’s time to sit down and stare at – that big, empty Grid. You know what I’m talking about. It’s where the magic happens of linking the music to the lights. That magic is far from easy. You’ve got hundreds of control channels and points in time during the music where the lights change. That can translate to hundreds of thousands…
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2010
Another open house success
Our first open house was on December 5, 2009. We normally open the doors at 6:30 in the evening. My youngest grandson and I were taking care of some finishing touches on the garage diorama and he wanted something from out front so I did a quick jaunt through the house, out the front door and bumped right into a gentleman standing on the front step. When I looked past him there was a line of people all the way down to the corner, a block and a half away. After recovering from shock since I didn’t expect anyone to…
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2010
Christmas decorating trends
I honestly thought when volunteering for this assignment that finding out what the big Christmas trends for 2010 were going to be would be easy since it was already March and the season was just eight months away. Surely all the merchants had placed their big orders with the manufacturers and knew what they would be pushing hard for the holidays. Boy, was I wrong. If I was a newbie I’d be concerned but experience has taught me no one really wants to say much, at least on the record, because no one has confidence what the real trends are…
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2009
The rumor mill
Ahhhhh. The sound of wedding bells were recently heard in the Christmas decorating world. Our very own Melissa at Christmas Done Bright found her high school sweetheart from 20 years ago thanks to Facebook and they were married last month. A special congratulations to the new Mrs. Davis! A southerner (that’s anyone living below the North Pole) mailed me a video where some guy was saying to replace all your Christmas light fuses with nails. Hook as many strings together as you want and save big money not having to buy extension cords. This guy has figured out a quick…
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2009
Gone with the wind
The question comes up time and time again, “How do I keep my blow molds from tipping over?” Securing a blow mold to keep it from falling down, tilting, or spinning in the wind is not difficult but it does take a bit of time. Additionally, a properly secured blow mold will help to reduce the chances of it being damaged when it falls or being stolen by a snatch-and-run thief. Here are some of the methods that I have developed over the years. Depending upon the molds I’m securing, a combination of techniques makes sure they don’t budge in…
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2009
The Grinch again
Mrs. Grinch conned me into watching “Invasion of the Christmas Lights” on some cable channel last weekend. What is wrong with you people? So much stress and drama! I get the impression you think about decorating year-round, start putting stuff on the house in September and then can’t get it all done by your lights-on ceremony in December. Good gosh. The one year I decorated for Christmas involved putting a Bah-Humbug sign in the front window and it took me maybe a minute. Jesh. I’m quite proud of my fellow Grinches out there, though. We have a gathering every September…
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2009
Professional home display
If you have the time to read this article then you either need more Christmas decorations to put out or you are a really organized enthusiast. Either way I am glad you took the time to visit. PlanetChristmas is dedicated to bringing the best of Christmas decorating news to you and I am honored to be a part of the process. This time of year is extremely busy and I have been running around like crazy with the normal tasks one has during the season. At the same time I’m investing hour-after-hour on a new design for my home display.…
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2009
My search for the first snowman
Who made the first snowman? Who first came up with the idea of placing one snowball atop another and sticking a carrot in the top sphere? This was my quest for over six years. It would deplete my bank account, test my marriage and get me in with a lot of cool celebrities. I was at a career crossroads of sorts when I decided to tackle this project. Weary and jaded from working as a writer and illustrator in the shrinking magazine field for over 15 years, my flashier assignments were well behind me. I was looking for something that…
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