Home » Posts tagged 'LED lighting'
Tag Archives: LED lighting
Let There Be Light: Christmas 2016
I shot this after the first big snow December 4th. Decorations not complete yet. The snow on the trees really caught the area lights.
Ever since I was a child, Christmas lights have cast a magical spell over me. Mood, color, ambiance– combined to create a winter fantasy.
This year Michael and I decided to scale back on the interior decorating and focus primarily on the exterior of the house– since that is what the most people see.
With the unseasonable warm weather we had this year, I was able to work on outdoor projects longer– like repairing and painting stairs and porches, all the way in to November. The trees held their leaves much longer this year, postponing yard clean up as well. So, I didn’t really start decorating until the week after Thanksgiving.
The majority of the decorating took approximately 60 hours over two and a half weeks. I used over 900 feet of garland, 10 artificial trees, 65 bows, thousands of LED lights, 24 egg strobes and 10 laser projectors to complete the effect outside. Every year it’s a little different, depending on time, resources and whatever mood strikes me.
Inside, I didn’t put up any traditional, full-size trees but did decorate 12 ‘stick’ and tabletop trees (3 ft. to 9 ft. tall) along with some mantle and stair garland. In the windows I used 27 LED snowflakes, 28 sets of icicle lights and 36 battery operated candles. I experimented with LED ‘curtain lights’ in 6 windows in place of Christmas trees I’d used in the past.
321 Division St. on a beautiful sunny morning after a good snow.
Garland and bows decorate the fence around 321 Division Street.
The house before dusk.
321 Division Street just before sunset.
Looking across the front yard at our spiral tree with the church in the background.
Trees line both sides of the front driveway.
On the hill behind our house.
One of two light & bead trees I created from scratch.
321 Division from the street.
Christmas at home.
Front porch fully decorated.
The statue of Liberty on the front center porch.
The front parlor at 321 Division St.
In the dining room.
The side of the house.
The lights will be on display through at least New Years’ weekend.
Green Christmas
Decorating for Christmas has always been a challenge here at my house. In order to do it right — I need to start in October. Trees in every window, lights outside– it’s a challenge but I love every minute of it.
As a kid, I was decorating my room as far back as I can remember– starting with an old silver tinsel tree that was a hand me down from an uncle. I’d swipe a few ornaments from the family tree, made ornaments with my grandma, and found bits of tinsel here and there to make things merry and bright. I’d even rescue live trees, carelessly discarded the day after Christmas, drag them home, sneak them in my room and decorate them all over again… sure to be on display until the needles dropped. One year I even tried to spray paint a long-dead Christmas icon, only to have the few remaining needles cascade on the floor.
When we became the proud owners of 321 Division Street, Christmas became an even bigger obsession. I spent hours and hours decorating– every year trying something new. There have been displays better than others and some years more conservative than over the top. Every year has been a new, highly anticipated challenge.
This year, Michael made me promise to go simple. Well, actually he said, “We ‘re not going to be home for Christmas this year so no need to decorate.” That was months ago– and halfheartedly agreed. EXCEPT… well, 1) It’s me. 2) It’s Christmas. 3) We don’t leave until Christmas morning.
Needless to say, the halls are decked and trees are twinkling.
The big difference this year? I went GREEN. Not the color, I went eco friendly with all LED lighting. The technology uses only a fraction of the energy (up to 90% savings) but comes with an initial price tag common to new technology. I’ve added a few stands of LED lights the past couple years and watched for pre and after Christmas sales allowing me to reach this point. One frustration: I’ve already noticed the quality of the light strings (the wire) aren’t any better than the traditional lights so I seriously doubt any of them will last the purported 20 years.
I found some color changing landscape lights that I focused on the house itself which adds tremendously to the atmosphere. It creates a big impact with little effort. I simplified the number of lights on the porch and found battery operated LED candles that come on are go off automatically after five hours, for all the windows. Everything else is on a remote for easy on/off on a nightly basis.
Overall, I’m pretty happy with the look and the energy savings is certainly a plus.
Of course I’m already looking forward to next year– and pulling out all the stops.
How Do You Measure 525600 Minutes? 