Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with christmaslights

Large ball christmas lights?

middleclasstool — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 11:30:21 -0800

Where can I get new, large, spherical Christmas lights? When I was a kid, I grew up with the large, ball-shaped GE lighted ice Christmas lights on the tree. They look like this, and they're about 1.5 to 2 inches in diameter.

My parents got me a couple of strands off of ebay for my own tree a couple of years ago, after I'd talked about how much I loved those lights as a kid. But every year I discover about five more dead ones, and replacement bulbs go for a premium on ebay, with no guarantee that they won't die off just as rapidly. I'm down to two strands.

So I'm looking for something similar -- they don't have to have the glued on plastic bits that make it look like a snowball, though faceting or something like that would be preferable. LED would be preferable too, but not mandatory. But they need to be big, somewhere in the neighborhood of a 2" diameter.

I can't find them. Anywhere. Closest I can get in a larger bulb is this traditional teardrop shape, which I don't like as much. Does anyone know of a place where I can get them, reasonably priced?

Holiday lights: hang 'em high!

Bardolph — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:58:49 -0800

How can I conveniently and safely affix a string of Christmas lights to the edge of a second-story roof? Halloween's over, and it's officially time to start planning holiday decorations, hurray! My challenge this year: to get a string of lights (preferably icicle, but standard C4s in a pinch) hung along the eave of a ~22'-high roof.

It sounds simple, but the roof is really too high and treacherous to go with the standard plastic light clips that have to be manually stuck on and pulled off the gutter every season. I think I could probably make it up there once, to install whatever hanging hardware may be necessary, but after that the lights will have to be hangable from the ground exclusively.

My current thought is to screw metal hooks into the underside of the eaves, then hoist a string of lights onto the hooks using a tall pole of some sort-- but without any way to close the hooks, I worry that the lights might blow down in a gusty wind. Ideally, there'd be some more secure way to make sure the lights stay attached, but can still be hung and removed easily by someone reaching out a window or standing on the ground.

So what might be some clever alternatives for hanging long strings of lights across high places? Has anyone had any success with pulley/clothesline-type apparatuses? Or with these dodgy-looking lighting tracks? Any other bright ideas?

Details:
--There's a small dormer in the middle of the roofline which it'd be nice to outline as well, although in theory the lights could be strung straight across that.
--The gutter is also accessible at wide intervals from second-story windows, as shown in this crude drawing.

Any and all suggestions welcome-- thanks!

Where to score OTC/discount purple LED Xmas ights?

Rash — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 20:21:32 -0800

Where can I buy strings of purple LEDs over-the-counter in the (SF) Bay Area? Maybe even with a post-holiday discount? Yes, I know they're available online, for example at The Purple Store.

Christmas Lights In Vancouver?

eurasian — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 09:35:12 -0800

Where can I find neighbourhoods that are lit up to the nines with Christmas lights in Vancouver, BC? Where are the better known places to go to see some great Christmas light displays setup by neighbourhoods? We live in Burnaby, so anywhere within a 40 minute drive or so would be great.

OH GOD MY EYES

InnocentBystander — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 19:44:51 -0800

Why do blue Christmas lights hurt the hell out of my eyes? Recently there has been an upswing in the number of people with these bright blue Christmas lights strung all over their yards. Normally I love Christmas lights -- they're so festive! -- but these blue ones make me physically repulsed somehow. They hurt my eyes and give me a headache like someone has put a knife into my skull. It's a similar (but toned-down) version of what happens if I look at a blacklight/ultraviolet light, which give me ridiculously bad pain, even to the point of making me throw up.

What gives? These blue lights suck so much that I am freaked out to even drive right now: when I see them, I instinctively turn my head, and I keep worrying that one of these times I'll do it and run into a car/deer/whathaveyou.

Is there a reason for this phenomenon? Is anyone else experiencing this? Am I just insane?

How many christmas lights per tree?

Alpenglow — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 11:53:43 -0800

How many christmas lights (either C7 or C9 size bulbs) are needed for a large 16' pine tree? I have been asked to find lights for an outdoor commercial display & I don't have a clue how to calculate how many feet of lights are needed to decorate a tree. Is there some sort of rule of thumb for this?