"Its the Lights!"
This quote is from the movie "Deck The Halls" starring Danny Devito. I now understand that quote, and you can get addicted to this hobby REAL easily! Here are some of the projects I have completed for this years show.
Bethlehem Star
This item is one of Kim's requests, so I made it the 2008 project #1. I first made one
of these with small gauge wire, and added lights. I didn't like the results. I
used the first one as a template and made a 4 row star with 1/4" steel rod.
For 2009, this is Version 3.
The star has 4 different colors 2 strings of 50 LED's each. Each color will be
individually controlled.
Bells-O-Holly
This was the second light project I tackled in 2008. I found the bells at
http://www.christmas-leds.com/. Each bell has 2 sets of 50 green
C-6 LED's , 35 red C7 LED’s with the covers pulled off for the red berries, and 2 sets
of 50 white C-6 LED’s, for a total of 470 lights.
This is controlled by 3 channels, one for the
green/red area, and 2 to make the bells swing back and forth
The "FAN-Tastic" Fan*
*( Thanks to Jeff Womack in Texas for giving it that name)
We originally were going to extend light strings from the soffit to the ground,
but also extend the same pattern onto the roof.
I then found a "Marty Fan" and a video on how to make one.
It is made with 1/2" EMT conduit and 1/4" hot rolled steel rod.
The Fan has a total of 32 strings of M5 LED's, 4 strings of each color per
side. There are 22 lights on each rod, and 3 pulled around the back side, for
a total of 1600 lights and is controlled with 8 channels.
The Fan is hinged in the middle and has wheels, so it will fold up and be easy
to store (another one of Kim’s wonderful ideas).
See more on this in the how to page!
* The Fan will get a revision for 2010!
MegaTree and Star Topper
For our megatree, we use our Portable Basketball goal we bought for
my stepdaughter. We removed the backboard/hoop and made a fixture
to attach the lights strings to it.
This year will be able to change between 4
different colors! This is accomplished with 128 strings of LEDS and
64 control channels. The star will be green and red for 2009.
See more on this in the how to page!
Pole Grids.
The house has 6 support poles for the carport and front porch. One of the
poles will have the fan in front of it. So that leaves 5 Poles. I really didn’t
like the idea of wrapping lights around the poles.
So we made simple wireframes for them.
These are 6’ long and 4” wide. They have 2 sets of 90 multicolor 5mm
concave LEDs each on them for a total of 900 lights.
Mini Trees
These mini trees are made from tomato cages from our tomato plants
that didn’t seem to like the searing heat of Arizona.
I welded the tops together, then snipped
the ribs and made triangles with them.
There are 15 of these with 180 5mm concave LED’s each,
for a total of 2700 lights.
The tree farm will use 15 channels total.
* The Mini Trees will get a major revision for 2010!
The Train! The Train!
Since we are not using a "real" train like many do, We decided to have Faux tracks to go with our Faux train. The train is one of the few items that was carried over from last years display. This surrounds the megatree when its up. The train and tracks has of over 1000 lights! See more on this in the how to page!
* Due to a major windstorm this year, The train and tracks have been removed to make room for the Bells and Hippo off the roof.
They will return in 2010 as the train was one fo the first Items Kim and I purchased in 2007 that moved us towards the big display!
Lighted Ocotillo Trees!
These trees have been a HUGE hit by the vistors! Many think they are REAL!!
Each of the Faux Trees have 50 red, green,blue and white LEDS.
To see how these were frabricated,
check out the How To's
