Christmas Lights on the House in Peril!

I have a Christmas quandary and it is putting the whole concept of having Christmas lights on the house in peril, this year. 

Here is the situation: We have a white frame house, and every year I basically put lights up that make it look like a gingerbread house.  Many years ago, I found the perfect lights for around the top of the house at Walmart, of all places.  They were blue icicle lights with white wire.

Since each strand had three circuits, I was able to take the end bulb out of two of the circuits and replace with a flasher bulb.  Now, I'm not normally a fan of flashing Christmas lights AT ALL, but the resulting effect made it appear as if we had twinkling icicles on the house.  It wasn't annoying because 1/3 of the lights would always be on...meaning there wouldn't be sections going completely dark at any one time.

It was purty.  People slowed down to look as they drove by in their cars.

I was filled with pride!

After a few years, the blue bulbs faded to nearly white, and I was beside myself with worry that I wouldn't be able to get the same lights.  Luckily, Walmart still carried them!

I was filled with joy!

So, I replaced all of the light strands with new light strands of the same type.  This is where the problems began.   Apparently, quality control on the lights was not what it used to be because some of the individual circuits on the lights began to fail...even in the first year!  This was annoying.  So this bunch of lights did not last long.  I had spares that I rotated in, since the color hadn't faded much, yet, so we were saved.

Then, last year, I used the same lights.  I checked the lights prior to hanging them on the house.  Everything worked great!  Then we put the lights on the house and BAM! lots of lights were not working.

This was very frustrating.

So now, this year, I'm not sure what to do.  I'm already behind, in that I haven't had time (or cooperative weather) to put up the lights.  I will need to once again replace the light strands.  I'm not sure I want to go get the same lights, or not.   I have been investigating strands of LED icicle strands, but I'm afraid they might be too bright...plus I can't make them twinkle.

Also, just to TRY them out around the eaves of our house will cost around $120.  This is a lot of money for just one portion of our Christmas lights.  LED lights would probably last a little longer (the bulbs of course would, but the thing that really wears out is the sockets and wiring), but I'm conflicted!

I bought a test strand that I was going to put up on our back porch and analyze the effect.  I haven't had a chance to do that, either!  Tonight, I'll probably look at Walmart and see if they have the same lights I've used in previous years. The advantage would be that all the hooks are in the right spots already. 

I am now filled with the stress of the season!  I love the lights on the house, and I'm not currently certain I will end up with ANYTHING.  Arrgh.

Then, there is the last choice, but it would constitute and even more radical change to the lighting scheme I enjoy so much:  going to the old-time C7/C9 bulbs.  Local hardware stores sell the wire in bulk, so I could have it cut to the proper length for each portion of my house.  I can then buy whatever color lights I desire.   I actually don't know if they sell the wire in white, though.  Probably not.

I starting to hold out hope that Santa and his elves will come by during the day when I'm at work and magically decorate the exterior of my home for me.  I think I'll head to the mall and ask Santa at lunch today.  Yeah. That's what I'll do!

Life is good.

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For a list of when many of the Christmas classic movies are on, check out this post by Gail Pennington of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.  Note: some of the listings may be local to St. Louis, only!

Comments

[jaelithe]

I used Phillips LED lights from Target this year and I like them. (I don't do icicle myself, as I prefer my lights wrapped in a garland, but they do sell icicles there). They're so bright I suspect my front porch is now visible from space. And most LED lights have a sort of natural high-speed flicker effect- don't know if you've noticed it. Some people find it annoying up close, but from a distance it looks sort of twinkly.

I've been slowly switching to LED lights as I can afford it because I know it's much better for the environment (not only do they save electricity, but also since they last longer they theoretically cut down on materials and waste).

[Kim]

I have a soft spot for the old-fashioned lights, as I also have an old fashioned house that looks like a gingerbread house with the C-9 lights.

I do have to agree with Jaelithe about the energy savings of the LCD. Perhaps you could cut your losses this year, watch the after-Christmas sales, and next year have the most awesome decorations!

[Kathy G]

I'm AMAZED that you were actually able to find the same lights a few years later. That never happens to us.

DH put the lights up Thanksgiving weekend; he had four assistants (our three boys plus one girlfriend) and it went quickly. They've never looked so good. However, last night nothing came on in the front yard. We've determined it's probably the outlet on the front porch that needs to be replaced or fixed, neither of which fits our schedule for the foreseeable future. Last night he was trying to decide if it was worth having an electrician come and fix it so the lights could go back on.

[Patty]

I'm using twinkling blue icicle lights purchased at Target, and they're beautiful.