2010

In true newbie fashion… maybe
I have been decorating with lights for Christmas since age ten when I used a string of blue C-9 bulbs, a staple gun, Mom’s aluminum foil and a couple of 1×2 boards to make a shiny lighted cross. That was the first of many decorations I made to celebrate the season. It was always my job to put up Christmas lights at our house. I was so proud! As an adult, I continued on my own house, enlisting my sons as they entered school to help with the process. I have fond memories of making plywood cutouts with them. We…
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What makes us go crazy for Christmas lights?
My first exposure to the idea of animated Christmas lights was from Carson Williams’ Wizards in Winter video that went viral back in 2005. I thought it was cool, but it wasn’t until Todd, one of my co-workers said “I bet you could do that!” that started my on the path to animating our Christmas lights. It took three years to get everything together for my first animated show. Most of the work was done in November of 2008 once I realized I finally had everything I needed. If you’re a newbie to animated shows, here’s an insight of what…
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The Rumor Mill (again)
Labor Day. It’s typically when the politicians kick into high gear. How can you tell when one isn’t telling the truth? Their lips are moving. Sorry, but it’s a really old joke that still works. What most people don’t realize is Labor Day is also the opening day of the selling season for most Christmas vendors. People are now at least willing to think about Christmas instead of summer vacations. As for us elves, we keep working, even on Labor Day. Too much to do and not enough time. We get Christmas off only because it’s the one day Santa…
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Synchronized Lighting Heads and Skeletons
I feel it’s time to talk about Halloween in PlanetChristmas magazine. More and more people are decorating for the last day of October and many of the techniques are also used in Christmas displays. Think of Halloween as a warm-up for Christmas. Last year I saw a house with orange net lights in the bushes, a few purple floods on the house and it all synchronized to Michael Jackson singing “Thriller.” I immediately thought it was a Christmas display with the wrong colored lights. Ends up it was a Christmas decorator that had “repurposed” his animation controllers for another day…
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Synchronized lighting means plan, plan, plan.
In an earlier issue of PlanetChristmas magazine, I talked about the nine steps of getting into synchronized lighting in an animated display. Now I’m going to take a few of those and go a bit further into detail on things you can do, ideas you can use and ways to make it that much easier for you this year and for years to come. I also want to tackle a decorating subject quite foreign to many of us: Halloween. Planning and Powering This is a step that I cannot stress enough. Grab your paper, pen, pencil, crayons, chalk, computer, notebook…
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More views from the UK
As I write this the football (soccer) World Cup is taking place in South Africa with England and the USA in the same group. The sun is shining and we are coming up to the longest day of the year. It seems a weird time to be thinking about what to do at Christmas but for me that is exactly what has been happening over the last month. May and June are my times for planning this year’s display. What went well last year, what didn’t go quite so well, what is new for this year and what needs to…
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Full backstage pass
I wrote an article entitled “A Day in the Life” for the August 2009 issue of PlanetChristmas magazine. I received emails from people who were amazed by the amount of work and time involved in such an endeavor and thrilled by the excitement that surrounds a life in this business. I thought I would share five weeks of my schedule for those of you considering a career in the decorating world. The weeks described below include the three leading up to a large decorating job and the two of on-site installation. If you really dream to be a superstar lighting…
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The Christmas Ranch
I picked up the phone and it was Dr. Mike Fuchs, the owner of The Christmas Ranch northeast of Cincinnati. I had heard about this place for years and all I could imagine was Santa riding a horse or cooking a giant steak over the campfire, which seemed a bit odd to this Christmas lover. Mike is such a delight to talk with, has a deep passion for Christmas and a real desire to help others. He loves outdoor Christmas decorations and leaves his display up yea r-round. The more we talked the more I knew he was a PlanetChristmas…
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More Christmas pain
Christmas time is joy, giving, and love. Yellow jackets are bold, aggressive, and if provoked, sting repeatedly, painfully and pursue you with the determination of a bulldog. The story you are about to read is true and about the day these two contradictions met and the battle that resulted. Day 1: October 5th, 1800 hours I was having a grand time trimming my trees for my Christmas lights. The weather was wonderful with the breeze gently blowing my hair. Unknown to me, evil lurked nearby. I started cutting a branch when something buzzed me. I wasn’t worried; bees and wasps…
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Off season in the Christmas business
It’s that time of the year again when the earth is shifting on its axis, the days in the northern hemisphere are getting longer and the Christmas lighting off-season is in full swing. Wait, you mean you are already planning your 2010 display? Don’t feel bad because many others are doing the same thing. As a result the slow times here at Synchronized Christmas are coming to an end as well. January is usually spent finishing paperwork and getting the financial house in order for the coming year. February and March turn into a downtime for this small business owner.…
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