All American Christmas Co.

The Many Non Christmas Uses for...Christmas Lights!

2012-01-25T13:37:00.001-06:00

In our industry we call pretty much everything Christmas lights, Mini light strings, LED light strings, C7 bulbs, C9 bulbs, etc but just because they found favor lighting houses during the Christmas holiday season doesn't mean that's their only time to be used. I talked to the boss man about many mini light strings that get tossed and he guessed hundreds of thousands, and I'd say he's right. That is a sad thing because Christmas trees, garlands, and on the hedges outside aren't the only places/things you can use Christmas lights to decorate. Below I've give a little rundown on other uses for these light strings.

Other Holidays - Valentines, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, 4th of July, etc. Most all holidays have some sort of decoration than can be easily accented by adding some light strings. For outdoor parties or holidays where you spend time outdoors adding some C7 or C9 light strings around a deck or patio is a great option for some quick decorations that look great and are really easy to install. The great thing about using C7 bulbs or C9 bulbs is that you can easily mix and match colors to suit the holiday, or they are just a classic look you can just as easily be happy with using all clear bulbs.

Parties - A lot of the same rules that apply for decorating for Holidays apply to parties. Hanging Mini Christmas Lights around a deck or patio is a great way to add light accent lighting, you can again use screw in style C7 or C9 lights for the same effect. Running Christmas Lights around the ceiling of a party is a cool way to keep the house lights dim and add some cool lighting for socializing with friends. Using strings of mini lights to line drive ways or paths is another great way to use old Christmas light strings.

Proms/Weddings - Hanging Christmas lights for formal events is a great way to add a little accent and mood lighting. Net lights, Curtain lights, and Mini lights are great for putting along walls or across ceilings. You can hide the wires by using White Wire Christmas lights and putting some sort of sheer fabric in front of the strings. This effect looks great behind tables, to hide things on walls, to shut off rooms or hide doorways. Hanging long mini lights across the ceiling can give just the right amount of lighting, its great for tents outdoors for for lighting up for a reception, you can greatly dim or maybe even turn off overhead lights. That gives you a starry night effect that looks great for pictures!

Crafts - We carry a selection of what we call craft lights, these are short Mini Light ( or LED Christmas light) with bulb count ranging from 10 to 35 lights. These sets are perfect for lighting Glass blocks or lighting wine bottles! They can be used for any small lighting/craft project and are very affordable.

Click here to view our Mini Light Page
Click here to view or C7 and C9 Page

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Zach
All American Christmas Co.
www.aachristmas.com
www.allamericanchristmas.com

Christmas Light Sale

2012-01-06T13:31:00.002-06:00

The Season is over, lights and trees are coming down and if you're like us you assess what lights have gone out and what you need to replace and get ready for next year. We are still offering 10% off online orders over $40 dollars.

Enter coupon code SAVE10 on the shipping address screen and the cart will deduct 10% off the product cost! Buy now and save!

I know many people have Christmas lights on sale but many of our competitors have little to no stock! Check out our wide variety of LED Christmas lights, Mini lights, Craft lights, C7 bulbs, C9 bulbs, Wire, and much more!

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Zach
All American Christmas Co.
www.aachristmas.com
www.allamericanchristmas.com

All American Christmas Co Coupon & Sale!

2011-12-05T09:46:00.001-06:00

For any order over $40 use coupon code SAVE10 to knock off 10% of the product cost! Now is the time to get all your lights so you can have them up and enjoy them this holiday season!

In the coming weeks as the major holiday rush dies down we are going to search the warehouse for overstock and discontinued items and will be revamping our sale section. We are going to offer deep discounts on these products so bookmark www.aachristmas.com and check back often, also keep an eye on this blog as I will keep it updated as well.
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Zach
All American Christmas Co.
www.aachristmas.com
www.allamericanchristmas.com

Making the switch to LED Christmas Lights

2011-11-08T13:46:00.000-06:00

Switching from Incandescent to LED Christmas lights may seem intimidating if you still haven't made the switch yet. The higher price tag and non traditional look of LED may seem a little, off putting, at first but once you compare the differences you'll be more than ready to jump on the bandwagon! I've blogged many times about how little power Christmas LED lights and I think most of you have gotten the point (if not check out some of my other posts on LED light strings), so this blog won't filled with complete technobabble!

Christmas LED lights come in a variety of shapes and sizes, most of which are based off classic bulb shapes we've seen all our lives. Below I will list some of the common shapes and styles of Christmas LEDs:

	C6 Lights - These have the shape of those classic C7/C9 bulbs we grew up with but are noticeably smaller. Great for indoor Christmas trees!
	C7 Lights - The classic C7 bulb never goes out of style, we offer LED C7 bulbs in both premade sets and screw in type bulbs. Use a fraction of the power will the same great look!
	C9 Lights - Just like C7 the C9 is a classic bulb that will always look great. C9 are perfect for outdoor jobs and have that classic look that can't be beat!
	M5 Lights - M5 LED lights look like Mini lights (Twinkle, Fairy, or Italian lights to some). You can string a ton of these together! These LED lights are perfect for ANY application.
	Wide Angle 5mm Lights - Our FAVORITE, the Wide Angle LED Christmas lights have a bright bulb with a concave bulb that can be seen from nearly any angle. The best LED Christmas light bulb in our opinion
	G12 Lights - G12 are often called raspberry lights because they look like the little fruit. These are cool bulbs that would look great mixed into trees and garlands!

These are just some of the LED Christmas lights styles available, but you can use this simple break down as a spring board to plan our your holidays lighting. If you are worried about the upfront cost we recommend buy a few sets for some small projects and try them out, they won't go bad!

Check out our LED Christmas Lights Page

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Zach
All American Christmas Co.
www.aachristmas.com
www.allamericanchristmas.com

How to repair Mini Christmas lights

2011-10-24T11:06:00.000-05:00

We get a ton of questions asking if we can or know how to fix lights. Well, we can't fix your light strings, but we can give you some tools and tips on how to fix your own sets.

9 times out of 10 if a new light string is not working it's a loose or twisted bulb. Quickly look over the lights to see if a bulb has came out of the socket or somehow twisted and broke the connection. We get strings back all the time that people say are 100% broken and a bulb has just popped out.

Another common problem is overloading the wire and blowing a fuse. Most Mini light strings only allow 3 sets to be plugged together end to end. If a string has a fused plug then the fuse will blow, or it could potentially burn out the bulbs themselves. Don't think you can light your how house with one continuous run of lights.

New light strings have shunted bulbs, so that if a bulb burns out the rest stay lit. Old sets don't have this technology (if you call an extra piece of wire inside the bulbs technology). These older sets require the use of mini lights testers / repair boxes.

Using mini light testers, the small handheld mini light tester devices find where the flow of electricity is. You want to take the tester end and put it near the socket, if the flow of electricity isn't found near a socket then you're closing in on the culprit bulbs.

Mini Light repair boxes, they will actually repair the light string and any burnt out or problem bulbs will not light. Now, if you have a loose bulb these repair and testers won't solve your problems.

Our Commercial Mini Light Repair box is our best seller and the number one repair box we have ever found.
The Magic Box Isolates Twisted bulbs, empty sockets and bad fuses by forcing electrical current through a non-working set. You can start repairing your defective lights instead of of trashing them. It makes "dollars and sense" to easily repair a set as opposed to to throwing it away. Essential for lighting professionals and crews, this little box will pay for itself in no time.
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Miniature Light Tester Instructions
This special machine is designed to electronically isolate malfunctioning bulbs and/or bad fuses in miniature light sets by sending a controlled current through the string. There is no one particular way that problems are Indicated and it will take a while to become adept at using this testing machine. By following the detailed instructions below you will find that repairing bad sets is easier and faster than any other method available. Please read the following carefully before using the machine.
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Testing Procedure:

Plug machine into any standard 110-120-volt circuit.

Turn machine to "on" position by flipping toggle switch on bottom left upward.

Plug brown 6-ft. extension cord Into the outlet in the middle of machine. Then, plug only ONE miniature light set into the brown cord. (Remember the machine will test only one miniature light set at a time. Do not use on C-7 or C-9 light sets ...or any miniature light set that is operated by a computer chip, for example, chaser or fader sets).

The machine is designed to test single circuits. An example would be 35 or 50 light sets, both of which feature only one circuit. Additionally, a typical 100 light set is constructed with 2-circuits (i.e. they have two (2) 50-light sets wired back-to-back). To test 2-circuit sets, you'll need to remove one bulb from the circuit that is working in order to test the non-functioning circuit. When you test a 100-light set that features 5 circuits, pull out 4 bulbs (one from each circuit, which is every 20th bulb and usually color-coded) to test the 5th circuit.

If the circuit doesn't light up, push and release the large red button and the set will usually light up Immediately (with all bad bulbs that need to be replaced remaining unlit of course) or one or more of the sockets will make a loud "buzzing sound" which indicates a bad bulb or one which is simply "missing" from its socket. By listening for this buzz and watching for any sign of a socket "lighting up" with the arcing electrical spark inside, you can usually Isolate the problem area right away. You may have to spread the string out to discern just where the buzzing sound is coming from but it should be fairly easy to Identify the problem area. It may require two or more short buzzes for you to realize just where the buzz is occurring. Replace the bulb(s) and the set will light up unless there are other bad bulbs. Sometimes one of the wires is off to one side on the bottom of the bulb (straighten them up and reinsert).. .sometimes the bulb is a "one-legged" bulb (wire broken off) and other times one of the brass contact points Inside the socket is too far down inside the socket for the bulb to make proper contact. If the latter is the case, be sure to unplug the set first, then, pull brass contact "up" to correct position with sharp nose pliers, then re-Insert the bulb.

If all the circuits have been repaired and a "buzzing sound" comes from within the male plug, it usually Indicates a bad fuse. Replace fuse and the set should work.

If you have tried all of the above procedures and still can not get the set to function, you probably have a improperly wired set or a set with a direct short. Discard the set or return to manufacturer.

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NOTE: The protective plexiglass cover on top of the machine is designed to insulate and protect the user` from any potential shock which may occur when testing a light set with faulty wiring or 'a direct short. To reduce possibility of. electrical shock when using this machine, avoid touching the side of machine when testing. Position fingers on top of plexiglass when pressing the red testing button. Always use caution and work in a dry environment. SOME models have an external plastic enclosure.

Click Here to view our Mini Light Tester Box

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Zach
All American Christmas Co.
www.aachristmas.com
www.allamericanchristmas.com

Bubble Lights back in Stock

2011-10-17T16:03:00.001-05:00

Bubble lights are back!! Our standard sets with wire and 3 pack of loose bulbs are back in stock and ready to go. These sold our for the better part of a year so if you need bubble lights ORDER NOW! We will only have so many cases until they are out again.

Click here to view our bubble lights

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Zach
All American Christmas Co.
www.aachristmas.com
www.allamericanchristmas.com

New Craft Mini lights and other News

2011-10-14T15:26:00.000-05:00

We recently expanded our already large craft light section, we now have colors in our 10 and 15 light mini light sets! We got many requests for smaller light strings made like our 20 light strings (long leads, single plug, etc) and we recently got sets here so we can offer all the major colors! Our 10 light mini lights string has 3 inch bulb spacing, a 3 foot lead wire and is approximately 2.5 feet long. The 15 light string is the same expect it's total length is approx. 3.75 feet long.

These shorter light strings are great for installing the lights in glass blocks and wine bottles. You ideally want to use less than 50 lights in those projects because those sets are just going to be way to long for such a small enclosure.

We are talking about carrying NEW wine bottles in various colors. So if you don't want to have to wash bottles or whatnot. This should be happening in a few weeks! Watch the blog for all news about this.

Click here to view our Mini lights

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Zach

All American Christmas Co

www.aachristmas.com

www.allamericanchristmas.com

Screw In LED C7 and C9 bulbs

2011-10-10T14:40:00.000-05:00

We carry a variety of what we call Retro Fit C7 and C9 LED bulbs. Retro fit LED bulbs screw into standard C7 or C9 sockets, so you don't have to replace all your wire if you are currently using screw in incandescent bulbs just your bulbs! This gives you a lot more flexibility in lighting with LED and you still retain all the perks that LED provide.

LED Retro fit bulbs use .96 watts a bulb! Incandescent C7 bulbs use 5 watts and C9 use 7 watts, so you are going to save a lot of money on power consumption and get a whole lot more mileage out of your wire! If you are using 18 gauge spt-1 wire you can use around 800 bulbs on one continuous run of wire, this will save many trips up and down the ladder and make tearing down your decorations so much easier!

We hand chose our Screw in LED bulbs because the look the best in the socket, the bulb doesn't sit way up high, the light in evenly spread out, and the colors are vibrant and true. We are also carrying a selection of twinkle and color changing bulbs!

Check out our re-designed LED page and all of our great LED products.

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Zach
All American Christmas Co.
www.aachristmas.com
www.allamericanchristmas.com

Halloween Lights

2011-09-30T13:47:00.000-05:00

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, dressing up, eating WAY to much candy, and spending time with friends and family watching scary movies never gets old! Decorating for halloween can sometimes be just as fun as finding the perfect costume, and we have a selection of lights that are great for inside and out your home on this spooky holiday. We offer Frosted Orange Mini lights on Black wire. These sets look great during Halloween and also during thanksgiving mixing in with leaves the orange really accents the colors of fall.

We also carry black wire mini lights with clear bulbs, which look great mixed in with orange lights, and we also have brown wire mini lights which look great mixed in with leaves or around hay bales! In addition to simple light strings we also carry Halloween style icicle lights, small novelty style lights (small pumpkins, spiders, ghosts), fall colored garlands, and even halloween/fall themed displays!

Combining all of these styles of products let you create a really great Halloween themed decoration for indoor or out. If you have any questions regarding these products feel free to check the website and give us a call if you can't find the answer you need.

Click here to visit our Halloween Light page

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Zach
All American Christmas Co.
www.aachristmas.com
www.allamericanchristmas.com

Musical Christmas Controllers IN STOCK!

2011-09-25T10:42:00.000-05:00

Holiday Light Show Controller

We have received our MP3 player ready Musical Christmas light controllers! Our Holiday Lightshow musical controller is the simplest and most inexpensive way to decorate your house and have it dance to music. Click here to view them on our site.

This controller features 10 Built in songs, 6 channels (i.e. outlets), a Outdoor ready speaker, a built in timer, and jacks to plug in a MP3 Player or external speaker source.

Each channel on controller unit handles 1.25 amps, that is around 375 mini light bulbs per outlet. If you are using LED lights you can get a lot more mileage out of the controllers since LED sets use such little power! Most people may say, "Well, 375 mini lights per outlet is just not enough for the idea in my head!!" and we totally get that but keep this in mind, computer controlled systems that do those insane youtube-esque videos start at around 500 bucks for the most basic systems, you have to program them yourself (or buy a program) and have a dedicated computer for it.

While our controller does not do the level of intricate animation that those big computer systems do, it's also a lot less headache and money. We recommend customers to integrate this controller into their current decorations, if you are aleady going to light up trees, bushes, the roof line, ect. choose what items you have lit and have then dance to the music! Say you have a your roofline lit, make your trees sync to the music with our controller.Mixing in animation will make your Christmas lights look less busy and more like a cohesive group of decorations. You want people to drive by and look in wonder at your decorations, not be so shocked they wreck the car (or well I hope you don't want people to do that)!

We currently have around 40 in stock, and are getting more in a few weeks. These controllers are selling out fast so if you are interested please order early to insure you'll have one for the comings season.

Our Holiday Lightshow Musical Controller is $169.99 and remember you can get 10% off that if you order online! Use coupon code Save10 during checkout and the controller is 152.99 before shipping!

Thanks, if you have any questions visit our site or email me zach@aachristmas.com

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Zach
All American Christmas Co.
www.aachristmas.com
www.allamericanchristmas.com

So many Mini Craft Lights to choose from! Differences between Craft light sets.

2011-08-29T12:36:00.000-05:00

I know I've been blogging a lot about craft lights lately, and since we now carry 8 different types of Craft lights I felt like I needed to explain the differences between all the different craft sets. Craft lights are the most popular light string for the majority of the year and they are hard to find January to September but we are happy to offer these small Christmas light strings all year! They only time we aren't selling them is when we sell out of them!

About our Mini Craft Lights

No End to End plug - All of our Craft sets only have one plug that goes to power outlet.
High Brightness bulbs - These sets have bright bulbs that aren't like normal mini light string bulbs, they are a higher voltage and look great in blocks and bottles
Color Variety - We offer sets (or cases) in all available colors on either White or Green wire, these colors include: Clear, Red, Blue, Green, Amber (Orange), Yellow, Teal, Pink, Purple, and Multi Color.
Close bulb space - Most of these sets have a 2" to 3" bulb space, this cuts down on the wire you have to have inside your project
Longer lead wire - Our craft lights have either a 24" or 36" lead wire, the lead is the wire from the plug to the first bulbs, this means you won't have to go hunting for a extension cord for a 4" lead wire.
Stackable plugs - These light strings allow you to stack plugs on top of one another so you can plug multiple sets into a single outlet.
Shunted Bulbs - If a bulb burns out the rest stay lit! If a bulb is loose or twisted the wire can not light but this is a rare occurrence.
Case lots - All of our incandescent light strings are available in a case option, this lets you stock up on sets and save big money down the road.

Currently we are offering the following different types of Mini craft light sets

10 Light Set - 3" bulb spacing, 2.5 feet lighted length with 36" lead wire from plug to first bulb
15 Light Sets - 3" bulb spacing, 3.75 feet lighted length with 36" lead wire from plug to first bulb
20 Light Sets w/ Short Leads - 2.5" bulb spacing, 3.5 feet lighted length with 24" lead wire from plug to first bulb
20 Light Sets w/ Long Leads - 3" bulb spacing, 5 feet lighted length with 24" lead wire from plug to first bulb
35 Light Sets w/ Short Leads - 2.5" bulb spacing, 7.5 feet lighted length with 24" lead wire from plug to first bulb
35 Light Sets w/ Long Leads - 3.5" bulb spacing, 13 feet lighted length with 36" lead wire from plug to first bulb

I hope this clears up the differences in all the types of Craft Mini Lights we carry, please visit our Mini lights page to view what sets in stock!

Zach

All American Christmas Co.

www.aachristmas.com

www.allamericanchristmas.com

10 Count and 15 Count Mini lights now available.

2011-08-17T15:30:00.000-05:00

We carried 15 count mini lights for a long time and for a little while the manufacturers halted production for a limited time but now they are back and better than ever! Not only are the 15 light count an option but so is a 10 count mini light string, these are for the decorators or craft makers who want fewer number of lights and less wire inside their craft projects. We are selling individual sets in Clear on White or Green wire, and selling cases of 50 strings in Colors on White or Green wire.

The 10 count mini light strings we carry have a 36" lead wire, 10 bulbs, 3 inch bulbs spacing, Stack-able plugs, No End Connectors, and are approx. 2.5 ft long.

The 15 count mini light strings we carry have a 36" lead wire, 15 bulbs, 3 inch bulbs spacing, Stack-able plugs, No End Connectors, and are approx. 3.75 ft long.

These sets are great for lighting Glass Blocks, Wine Bottles, and since they are smaller light strings they could fit into even smaller blocks or bottles! Lighted Beer/Liquor Bottles would be very cool!

Click here to view our Mini lights page

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Zach
All American Christmas Co.
www.aachristmas.com
www.allamericanchristmas.com

Musical Christmas Controllers back in stock this week!

2011-08-15T10:59:00.002-05:00

We are going to be getting our MP3 Musical Christmas Controllers in stock this week! We quickly sold out of these last year and we hope these controllers receive the same great reception this year. Our MP3 Christmas Controller is the easiest way to decorate your home and sync it up to your own music. These controllers have 10 songs built right into the unit but being able to use your own mp3 plays gives you unlimited control of your own holiday decorations! These controllers have 6 outlets and each outlet give you 1.25 amps, that's around 375 mini lights per outlet, if you choose to use LED then you could almost triple that number of lights!

These controllers are simple to use and setup, have a ton of great features, and will really make your home light up and come to life! If you have any questions please visit the site and see all the specs listed online.

Click here to view this product

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Zach
All American Christmas Co.
www.aachristmas.com
www.allamericanchristmas.com

Craft lights coming back in stock!

2011-08-10T10:04:00.001-05:00

20 light count mini lights are coming back in stock soon! Our manufacturer has the lights so we will be getting ours in to sell individual sets in the following weeks. 20 light count craft lights has been extremely popular this year, so much so that our inventory was down to 1 or 2 sets per color!

The craft lights we carry usually have either 20 or 35 lights per string, they are typically spaced approximately 3 inches apart, and come in a variety of colors. Both our 20 count and 35 count mini lights have different lead wire options, either 2 foot or 3 foot lead wires. The longer the lead wire the better for most craft projects using christmas lights. If you have a 3 foot lead chances are you won't need a small extension cord for plugging up your crafts, this will give your projects a clean and unobtrusive look that your family, friends, or customers will enjoy!

Very soon we are going to be receiving 10 and 15 count mini lights, these small craft light sets will be great for small craft projects, you can use smaller bottles or glass blocks. Or if you just want fewer lights in your standard size blocks and bottles then this is a great option. The options on colors will be limited at first, but if the reaction to this style of Christmas light string is strong we will carry full color options in the future.

Of course we still offer our LED Craft lights, while these sets are more expensive you aren't going to have many problems with these lights. They have 25 lights per string and, 3" bulb spaces, and 2' lead. These sets don't generate heat, and use VERY little power. Lets say on average a mini lights string of 20 lights uses about 10 watts of power, these LED light sets use around 2.4 watts and the bulbs will last at least 10 times longer! So while the do cost more, the small price bump is offset by the smaller power usage and the life of the bulbs!

Comparison of Incandescent and Warm White LED

View our LED Craft Light strings

View all of our Craft lights

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Zach
All American Christmas Co.
www.aachristmas.com
www.allamericanchristmas.com

New LED C7 Snowfall bulbs

2011-08-04T09:37:00.000-05:00

We have recently added these new Snowfall bulbs to our line of products, these snowfall lights screw into any existing C7 socket! So if you have C7 bulbs outlining your home you can integrate these into your light string and achieve a really great and clean icicle effect. We are also including 1 C7 Light socket so you install one of these icicles anywhere on spt1 wire!

Click here to view our LED icicles and our Snowdrop lights

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Zach
All American Christmas Co.
www.aachristmas.com
www.allamericanchristmas.com

Globe Light Size Comparison + Calculating Amperage

2011-07-26T12:02:00.001-05:00

Globe lights come in a variety of sizes, and I'll be the first to admit that the designations G30, G40, and G50 do not give a clue as to the size of the bulbs! Just remember the larger the number, the bigger the bulb. G50 are the globe bulb that most people think of when they think of globe style light bulbs, these are a large 2" diameter bulb. These styles of bulbs are available on both C7 (candelabra) base and C9 (intermediate) Base, we have some options for Medium base which is the size of a household light bulb but you'll have to call or email us for info on those bulbs.

More than just the size varies with Globe light bulbs, wattage of bulbs varies as well. G30 and G40 with a C7 (candelabra) base are 5 watts, where as C7 base G50 bulbs are 7 watts. You have to take this into consideration when decorating with globe lights because you DO NOT want to overload your wire. Speaking of which, here's the math on calculating amps for wire:

(Bulb Wattage) x (Number of Bulbs) = Total Wattage
(Total Wattage) ÷ 110 (Volts) = Amps

Example; Standard SPT-1 Wire handles 7 amps, so you do not want to exceed this, lets say you have 100 G4 Globe bulbs that are 5 watts a piece, your calculations should look like this

5 Bulb Wattage x 100 Bulbs = 500 Watts

500 Watts ÷ 110 Volts = 4.55 Amps

So as you can see, 4.55 amps is below so you can safely use 100 Globe bulbs on SPT-1 Wire. Most stringers we carry are SPT-1 unless noted and our spools of light light is available in both SPT-1 and SPT-2 options.

I hope this cleared up the confusion on bulb size of Globe lamps and let you have a little insight on how to decorate safely by calculating how many amps your number of bulbs are going to use.

Please visit or C7 & C9 Page and scroll to the bottom to see our Globe light options!

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Zach
All American Christmas Co.
www.aachristmas.com
www.allamericanchristmas.com

Commercial Curtain Lights White Wire back in stock!

2011-07-19T13:50:00.000-05:00

We just received our Commercial Wall of Light Curtain lights back in stock. These are the most popular Curtain light string we offer and for good reason, these sets look great and very well made. Our Wall of Light strings are 16.5 feet across the top and 9.5 feet tall so they are great for covering walls for parties and weddings. Their 456 bulbs provide plenty of light, and the drops are removable so you can remove lights if needed. These strings always sell out super fast so if you're wanting some for a project please don't delay and order ASAP before they are all gone again.

Click here to check out our Commercial Curtain lights

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Zach
All American Christmas Co.
www.aachristmas.com
www.allamericanchristmas.com

MP3 Music Christmas Light Controller coming soon!

2011-07-11T10:53:00.001-05:00

We started carrying this awesome controller last year and we quickly sold out! I'm trying to give everyone a heads up, we hope to receive these early September. So please bookmark the site or follow the blog (or RSS feed) because as soon as they are back in our hands to ship we'll update the site and blog.

Here's a little about this controller :

Holiday Lightshow Music controller and Timer with Speaker and 10 Songs
Includes: Control box with approx. 4' power cord & Speaker with approx. 15' attached wire. 2 Ground stakes

Product Features:
Energy Saver Timer Settings
On
Off
Dawn to Dusk (plays from sunset to sunrise)
or 2, 4, 6 or 8 hours (starts at sunset and plays for the statement amount of hours)

Easy-to-Use Control Box Function Settings
All On: all the connected items are on
Song Loop: plays all the preprogrammed songs
AUX: unit is on standby unless an MP3 player is connected
Effects: lights are on, but sound is off
Song Skip: moves to the next song 10 preprogrammed holiday songs

Built In Song List:
Deck The Halls
Oh, Come All Ye Faithful
Nutcracker Medley
HARK! The Herald Angels Sing
We Wish You A Merry Christmas
Bell Carol
Jingle Bells
Christmas Medley
Religious Medley
God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman

6 built-in power outlets; each rated for 1.25 amps - just plug in the lightshow items and you're done Replaceable 8A 125V UL fuse - helps guard against overloading

MP3 player compatible - customize your holiday lightshow experience by playing your own music; just turn the setting to AUX and plug in your own MP3 player

For indoor/outdoor use

This is a really cool controller, and here's a handy tip! The speaker that comes with the unit is good BUT if you hook up a nicer speaker cabinet that has a 8 ohm speaker it'll sound a lot better! We tested this with some shelf stereo speakers and were astonished at the increase in clarity!

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Zach
All American Christmas Co.
www.aachristmas.com
www.allamericanchristmas.com

Decorating with Rope Light

2011-07-06T15:01:00.001-05:00

Rope light is a super easy product to decorate with and can add great lighting just about anywhere. Rope light from stores like lowes or home depot come in short lengths, but we here at All American Christmas Company sell rope light in spools of 150 feet that come with multiple power cords and other misc connectors that you'll need for a clean decorating job. Now most people will think, "Why on Earth would I need that much!!" but once you start wrapping the rope light around something those small strings from the hardware store will get used up quickly. We have always had the attitude, "If you're going to do something do it right and do it right the first time." and if you custom cut your ropelight to fit your application using a commercial rope light spool you're going to get exactly the right look with little fuss and hassle.

Rope light is pretty simple to decorate with, many people use this plastic neon lighting for mood lighting or accent lighting. You can install them around ceilings and floors for indirect lighting, You can use colors that coordinate with your room for a great effect! I've seen it even used to decorate behind desks and entertainment centers to add a cool mood lighting for offices and home theaters or even just a normal family room.

You can also use rope light to wrap things you want to light, you can use it around handrails on a deck or going up columns on the facade of a building. It's perfect for these type of applications and will a nice ambient lighting to a deck for entertaining guests or just relaxing outdoors. Rope light is also great for outlining tents for outdoor parties.

Installing Ropelight onto most surfaces is very, we offer a selection of clips but for most application you can use zip ties! Zip ties are easy to use, inexpensive, are not permanent, and shouldn't damage the surface. We also carry clips and rope light track. Our rope light clips can be nailed, or screwed, onto a surface and the ropelight track can use adhesive pads, glue, or silicone caulk.

Rope light comes in 3 typical sizes, 3/8", 1/2", and 5/8". These 3 sizes have a varying number of wire count, what that means is how many circuits the bulbs are wired in. Normally rope light has 2 wire, but if you want a chasing effect you will need to purchase a controller and 3 wire rope light, and if you want many different chasing options you will need to purchase 5 wire ropelight with the corresponding controller.

Please visit our Rope Light page to see all the rope light we have to offer!

--
Zach
All American Christmas Co.
www.aachristmas.com
www.allamericanchristmas.com

Globe Lights

2011-06-24T13:45:00.001-05:00

Globe Lights

Globe lights are instantly recognizable and synonymous with festive lighting. They can be seen at restaurants, on patios, around pools, lighting at weddings, the list goes on and on. Many customers are so surprised we carry globe lights, but we carry a very large selection of Globe lights! We have multiple sizes of bulbs that fit Candelabra, Intermediate, and Medium Base bulbs!

There are different designations for sizes of Globe bulbs, they start with G and are followed by a number. We carry the following sizes:

G8 - These bulbs are 1" in diameter and are very small! Cool for small sign style displays
G30 - These bulbs are 1 1/4" in diameter.
G40 - These bulbs are 1 1/2" in diameter.
G50 - These bulbs are 2" in diameter. G50 are the size that people typically associate with Globe lamps.

Globe bulbs come in a variety of colors, but they are different than traditional C7 and C9 bulbs. They are usually a satin color and are often painted on the inside of the bulb. This type of paint inside the bulb gives the bulbs a soft glow when lit. Multi-colored packs are very popular but Pearl White and Clear reign supreme.

I hope this post gives you a little more info on Globe Lights, please go to our Bulb page and see what we have to offer. Click here (Globe Lights are at the bottom of the page).

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Zach
All American Christmas Co.
www.aachristmas.com
www.allamericanchristmas.com

Decorating with Curtain lights (Updated)

2011-06-23T16:14:00.001-05:00

As trends go, the use of curtain lights for Non-Christmas events has risen steadily over the past 5 years. The biggest use of these Curtain sets has for this non holiday use has been for Weddings and other Special Events. We carry 2 main types of curtain lights, Standard and Commercial. Standard are built like you're standard mini light string only in a curtain design, using quality 22 gauge wire and shunted mini light bulbs, these are great from smaller applications. Commercial sets use larger wire and bulbs, these sets are almost twice the width and height of a Standard set and have many more bulbs, commercial sets also have molded in holes to make mounting easier. One thing to keep in mind is that commercial weigh more than double that of a standard set, so be sure you can hang them if you decide to go that route.

The most common way people use these for weddings is by hanging them on a wall or on a frame of some sort. Hanging curtain lights from your wall is simple. If you have a drop ceiling then you can easily use a light weight wire or string and hang them from the ceiling grid. If you have walls you can drill or hammer into then you can very easily put some nails or small hooks up. The biggest issue people run into is not being able to drill into a wall, or having concrete walls and no drop ceiling, but don't worry you have a couple options. If you can hide it heavy duty adhesive tape is a good option. Tapes come in a variety of colors and even clear duct tape is now available, using clear or white would be ideal. Many customers have said they use items like 3M's Command Line of adhesive hooks and hangers to hang these sets, you just have to make sure with any type of product like that you can get it to adhere to a surface and distribute the weight evenly. Nothing is worse than hanging your sets only to have not hung them properly and they come tumbling down.

Hanging them from some sort of frame is and easier option, so long as the frame itself can handle the weight. The frame or stand could be anything from just a couple pieces of PVC pipe made into a stand or frame of wood. After you construct your frame/stand you can easily mount your sets, depending on it's construction you can screw clips, mount nails, tape, zip tie, etc the sets to your frame. Using this method allow makes things easier for you to hang some sort of fabric in front of your lights. This is a great way to set the mood and soften up the lights. Like in the picture below.

Wedding Curtain Lights

I hope this give you a little insight into hanging curtain lights. Please visit our Curtain Light section and Wedding Light section for more wedding decorating ideas!

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Zach
All American Christmas Co.
www.aachristmas.com
www.allamericanchristmas.com

Spice up your decorations with Chili Pepper Lights!

2011-06-20T16:09:00.000-05:00

Chili Pepper lights are a great novelty light string that look great hung just about anywhere. At All American Christmas Co. our chili pepper lights come with rubberized chili covers that slip over incandescent mini lights. Typically these come with red chilies but green and multicolored ( red, green, and yellow chilies) are available. These are inexpensive light string and are a great way to spice up any decorating project. Pun intended.

Chili pepper lights come in different light string styles as well, the standard light string is a 6 inch spaced light string with 35 lights/chilies per string. These are great for hanging and look killer in restaurants and around grills on a patio.

We also have a Chili pepper cluster which looks like a hanging bunch of fresh peppers. These have 35 lights and have a great look and would be a great addition to any decorations with existing chili pepper lights. We also carry a wreath that is lit with different colors of peppers.

If you're interested in these light strings, please visit our site and look at what we have and if you have any questions give us a call or email us! Click here to view our Chili Pepper Lights.

Thanks!

--
Zach
All American Christmas Co.
www.aachristmas.com
www.allamericanchristmas.com

Wedding light ideas

2011-06-09T13:56:00.001-05:00

There are a ton of great products to use for a Wedding ceremony and/or reception! I've gone on and on in previous blogs about how popular Curtain lights are and how great they look for weddings. I'll get to them but first I'm going to give some details on some other great lights for weddings.

White Wire Mini Lights

Click here to see our Mini Lights

White wire mini lights come in a variety of bulb spacings and bulb colors! Bulb spacing can vary from 2.5 inches apart all the way up to 8 in some cases, and Mini light bulbs come in all the standard colors; Clear, Frosted White (show), Red, Blue, Green, Yellow, Pink, Purple, Amber, Teal, and Multi. Mini lights are a great way to accent the colors of wedding party and a great for table decorations. Mini lights are also great for hanging from the ceiling creating a swag effect! Mini light strings vary in bulb counts from 20 all the way up to 150 lights per string so unless you're lighting a football stadium chances are mini lights will meet your lighting needs!

Globe Lights

Click Here for Globe Bulbs
They are on the bottom of the C7 & C9 Page

Globe lights are pretty common for decorators, they are the quintessential outdoor decorative light! They come in a variety of colors and sizes but it's hard to beat a clear or pearl white color Globe lights especially for a wedding! These lights go in either C7 or C9 light line which you can custom cut from a spool to fit almost any need. Globe lights are perfect for hanging outside outdoor tents and are killer for lighting walkways if you're doing a dusk/nighttime wedding. The standard size is called G50 and can fit into either C7 or C9 base, G50s are approx. 2" in diameter. Some people complain about price (around 16 bucks for 25 bulbs) but these bulbs will last a long time if maintained.

Rope Light

Click here to view our Rope Light

Rope light is a great form of accent lighting. It's compact, attractive and easy to decorate with! Rope lighting is great for going down walk ways or aisles, for wrapping columns or hand rails. Rope light comes in spools of 150' with all the accessories you would need to make multiple runs of rope light for your special day. Just like mini lights rope lights are great to make swag lights.

Curtain Lights

Click here to view our Curtain Lights

Curtain lights for weddings are super popular! Many decorators and the like rent out curtains lights but if you're a do it yourself-er like many of us are and want to save and buying your own to use and reuse on other holiday projects. We offer a smaller light curtain thats around 5 feet tall and a larger one that's around 9.5 feet tall! Like the picture on the right shows these curtains are great for going behind tables at a reception, they are great behind the bridge and groom during the service. A great effect is had by putting the light curtain behind some sheer fabric, this hides the wires slightly and looks great!

If you have any questions please visit the site or give us a call Mon-Fri 8-5 CST

--
Zach
All American Christmas Co.
www.aachristmas.com
www.allamericanchristmas.com

Christmas Light Fading Controllers

2011-05-24T16:25:00.001-05:00

Fading controllers are a great way to add some life to your displays or Christmas light strings! The most affordable light faders are 2 circuit, so they have 2 outlets the controller fades between. These simple controllers are good for changing between two displays or light strings; say you want to have different characters fading in and out or different trees lighting up in a specific color , really anything you can think of!

These type of smaller controllers (like the one shown above) handle up to 360 watts per channel, 3 Amps Maximum, they also have a dial for controlling speed of fade. The controller above does 10 seconds max to 1 second minimum fade time. So lets break that down, that's approximately 900 mini lights per outlet, 72 C7 bulbs per outlet, or 51 C9 bulbs per outlet. LED sets sometimes don't fade very well, so we don't recommend using them on a fading controller. These controllers have a easy to set speed knob that give you control over the speed of the fade between the outlets. We offer two types of these controllers and the one above is built in the USA!

We also carry Commercial quality Christmas light faders.These have 8 or 16 outlets and and can handle 15 to 100 amps! These are made for large commercial displays and large scale lighting projects, these faders have more intricate fading, they allow for overlap of fades and more.

If you'd like to see the controllers we have available Click Here

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Zach
All American Christmas Co.
www.aachristmas.com
www.allamericanchristmas.com

May 30th, 2011 is Memorial Day! 10% off coupon code!

2011-05-11T13:48:00.000-05:00

May 30th this year is Memorial day, and many of us like to get together with family and friends on this holiday when we take time to think about the soldiers who have sacrificed for this country. If you like to decorate for this holiday we here at All American Christmas Co. have some great lighting products that would look great for any indoor or outdoor celebration. We have Patriotic Spheres which look great indoors and out, as well as solid Red, White, and Blue Spheres. Starlight spheres are a great way to easily decorate holidays and if you mix and match them you could use solid colors for more than just patriotic holidays.

We also carry Red, White (or clear), and Blue incandescent and LED lights. Almost all of the Mini lights we carry come in those color options on White Wire, which look great for hanging around the house or outdoors. C7 and C9 bulbs are great for hanging up around decks and patios for a little extra light, our painted/opaque C7 and C9 bulbs are great for mood lighting. We have many LED light options as well but, they typically do not come on white wire but green wire looks great too!

Be sure to use the coupon code SAVE10 to save 10% on all online orders over $25!

Zach
All American Christmas Co.

www.aachristmas.com

www.allamericanchristmas.com

Commercial Snowflake Christmas Tree

2011-05-05T10:39:00.000-05:00

This is a Snowflake Panel Tree we sold to a customer putting it in a shopping mall. The customer added the sheer fabric and it really looks great. We can help you design any style Christmas tree you'd like. Commercial trees range in size from 14' to 40' and up!

There are a few different styles of Commercial Christmas Trees

Panel Tree - Has large panels that mount on a frame.
Branch Trees - Has large branches that attach to a frame.
Chain Trees - Has special garland or light strings that attach to a center pole and a base.

Please shoot us a email and we can work up a quote for you. Please let us know what style tree you'd like, height, type of lights, and all your contact info and we'll get you a quote.

Go to www.allamericanchristmas.com to see all of our Commercial trees!

Zach

All American Christmas Co.

www.aachristmas.com

www.allamericanchristmas.com

Patriotic Christmas Lights & Decorations

2011-05-03T16:46:00.001-05:00

All American Christmas Co. carries a wide selection of great Patriotic themed lights and decorating products. From simple Red, White, and Blue light strings to awesome decorative light displays, we have you covered.

Mini lights are a great option for decorating parties, events, and holidays. We have solid Red, White (or Clear), and Blue light strings. You can use mini lights around decks or patios, tables, hang them for accent lighting or anything your mind can come up with!

Same goes for C7 and C9 bulbs, they are great to buy a couple packs of different colors and mix them up for a great effect, put those bulbs on a white light stringer and you have a simple decorative light string that will look better and last longer than any pre made cheap light string you buy at the local department store.

We also carry a wide selection of starlight spheres, they are a simple and great looking lighted decoration.that comes in a variety of options. We have a USA Starlight sphere that looks like the American flag, we also have solid Red, White, and Blues of course. These are great to hang outdoors for late night BBQ's and parties! Spheres come in a variety of sizes and even have light stake options for lining walkways and driveways.

At the top of this blog post there is a image of a great American flag display we have, it's made of high quality Rope Light, and looks great hung up out doors. Which proper storage this display will last you many many years. We also carry custom R, W, B ropelight that has alternating colors.

Click here to check out some of our Patriotic lights.

--
Zach
All American Christmas Co.
www.aachristmas.com
www.allamericanchristmas.com

Premade C7 and C9 sets!

2011-04-25T16:32:00.000-05:00

C7 Bulb

We are now carrying cases of pre made C7 and C9 sets. These sets come with 25 C7 or C9 bulbs already screwed into sockets so you just have to open the box, remove the tray from the packaging, and you're ready to decorate. C7 Sets come in cases of 24 sets and C9 sets come packed in cases of 12 sets.

These sets are great for people who are pressed for time for their decorating projects and need a quick and simple incandescent light string. These sets are not made like other light strings and usually have smaller gauge wire so you can't plug many sets end to end. Most manufacturers recommended only 2 sets end to end, so I wouldn't recommend plugging more than that end to end.

Standard C7 and C9 strings and spools can allow for many more bulbs to be on a continuous run, but they are never pre-bulbed.

Click here to see our C7 and C9 lights!

--
Zach
All American Christmas Co.
www.aachristmas.com
www.allamericanchristmas.com

Making Custom Quick Connect Plugs

2011-04-14T15:56:00.013-05:00

Quick Connect plugs are the handiest tool for commercial decorators and anyone needing a quick and easy plug for 18 gauge wire! Steve (the guy who started this whole company) began modifying these to use in the middle of a line so you can easily get power to a light string or display without running a new wire! This blog is gonna show you how to do yourself! It's easy and takes about 30 seconds, so get out your tools and grab some plugs it's time to modify!

Getting Started

Get your tools and plug, we use pruning shears, a box cutter, and a multi tool (needle nose pliers would work fine)

Step 1

Using the shears cut 2 times on the inside of the plug. You cut on the side that doesnt have the opening for the wire.

Step 1 Example

Try to replicate the opposite sides spacing and length (these cuts are a little long but will work)

Step 2

Grab the area in between your cuts and lift up, you can then cut this out or just twist and break the plastic.

Step 2 Example

You can go ahead and us the plug like this if you want, we usually will take the knife and clean up the edges.

Step 3

CAREFULLY cut away the excess plastic to get a smooth edge. This step is optional if you have enough room for the wire.

Step 4

You can now place the plug were you need it on the wire.

Step 5

Slide on the back

Step 6

Enjoy your custom Quick Connect Plug!

I hope this guide helped you understand how to modify these plugs. You can make custom power strips and for the more patient you can make custom curtain or icicle lights that you wouldn't otherwise be able to buy! Below is a picture of some custom curtain lights we made for an event company, using modified plugs!

Visit our Electrical supply page for Plugs and 18 Gauge wire!

Zach

All American Christmas Co.

www.aachristmas.com

www.allamericanchristmas.com

Mini Light Description Video

2011-04-13T12:48:00.002-05:00

Click here to watch on Youtube.

Here's my video giving you a run down on mini lights, stay tuned for more videos! Thanks.

Zach

All American Christmas Co.

www.aachristmas.com

www.allamericanchristmas.com

Commercial LED Christmas Lights Limited Stock

2011-04-11T10:31:00.002-05:00

We have limited stock on all of our Commercial LED lights so once they are gone they are gone for good. Commercial LEDs have the ability to string 100+ light strings end to end, so you could potentially light one project off one power outlet! Sounds absolutely crazy, I know, but it's true.

Commercial LED Christmas lights come in all the most popular bulb shapes and in all the colors one would expect, they require special power plugs but besides that they are simple sets that screw end to end and have water tight end to end plugs/connectors.

Head to our LED page to see what we have available and don't forget to use the coupon code SAVE10 to get 10% off the product costs.

Zach

All American Christmas Co.

www.aachristmas.com

www.allamericanchristmas.com

C7 and C9 bulbs

2011-04-07T10:09:00.004-05:00

C7 and C9 bulbs could quite possibly be the most recognizable Christmas bulbs in the country. You can find them on trees, homes, and businesses during the holiday season and during the rest of the year they are great for mood lighting for parties, restaurants, and other decorative purposes. C7 bulbs and C9 for that matter are a great alternative to using household size bulbs for decorating indoors because they use much less power and since you'll probably be using it as accent lighting. These bulbs come in Transparent colors in both a Steady Burn or Random Twinkle option and a Opaque, or Painted, style.

C7 bulbs are often called Candelabra base. For Christmas light and decorating applications most C7 lights you'll encounter are 5 watts. C7 base bulbs are also known as E-12 base.

C9 bulbs are larger than their C7 cousins and also use more electricity. C9 bulbs are typically 7 watts and their bases are called E-17.

Incandescent style of lights are still very popular but with energy costs going up and up many are switching to LED bulbs. We offer a wide selection of LED that go into C7 & C9 sockets, so you don't have to replace your wire if it's already hung, just swap out the bulbs. LED Christmas lights pull about 1 watt of power, whereas incandescent pull 5 to 7 to sometimes 10 watts per bulb! So a typical 100 count lightstring with filament style C7 lamps will pull 500 watts of power (4.5 amps!) and if you used LED retrofit bulbs you'd only pull 98 watts (less than 1 amp). Now LED bulbs are pricey but their long term power savings is tremendous! They are made with hard plastic instead of glass, typically have truer colors, and bulb life that will dwarf filament style lights. Here's a comparison shot of Incandescent bulbs vs. Led bulbs.

Click here http://www.aachristmas.com/vpasp/C7-C9.asp to check out all our C7 and C9 bulbs.

Zach

All American Christmas Co.

www.aachristmas.com

www.allamericanchristmas.com

Mini Light Black Out & Color Caps

2011-03-25T09:06:00.005-05:00

Black out caps have been a popular product for many years, they are a black cap that slides over bulbs that you don't need lighting. They are perfect for cleaning up decorating projects. Lets say you want to outline your homes windows with mini lights if you connect the strings end to end there will be extra mini lights hanging between the windows, and with black out caps you can black out the lights for cleaner decorated look. The picture to the left shows the difference before and after. There has been a growing popularity for caps for mini lights, and color caps have been showing up more and more.

Color caps work best of clear mini lights bulbs and are used to of course change the color of the bulb. Color caps are a translucent rubber that is colored and they come in all the most common colors. These are great for doing custom displays or decorating projects so you can get the perfect combination of colors. Using color caps is easier than changing out actual bulbs and cheaper too!

Click here to check out all our caps!

Zach

All American Christmas Co.

www.aachristmas.com

www.allamericanchristmas.com

How To and Product Videos

2011-03-14T15:44:00.002-05:00

About a year ago now we said we were working on Product and How To Videos and a combination of school and being busy with so many other projects for work put this idea on the back burner. Well it's a new year and I'm done with college and are able to do many more cool projects like this. We have a HD Camera and are setting up a small studio in a back office so we can so you guys how to properly utilize some products and just give general info on the products we carry.

Steve has 20+ years decorating experience and his expertise can really help anyone who are going to be using anything from a 1000 foot spool to a 5 foot light string. We will put some links to our YouTube so you can Subscribe and keep up to date on all our tips & tricks!

Here are some videos to tide you over (By the way, the new videos are going to be a TON better):

Zach

St. Patrick's Day

2011-03-01T10:34:00.002-06:00

March 17th is St. Patrick's Day and if you need Green lights All American Christmas Co. has got you covered. We carry a full selection of Mini lights, C7 and C9 bulbs, and LED Lights that would look great for any sort of St. Patrick's Day celebration for a Home, Office, Restaurant, or Bar! Almost all of our lights come in a vibrant green color and are on green or white wire which would look great hung around a room, a porch, bar, or any where else you would want to light up green!

We also have a great Shamrock would be a great decoration for this holiday. Rope light displays are great looking and easy to decorate with. They will last season after season with proper storage.

Please visit the site to find green lights on green wire on the Mini light, C7 & C9 Bulb, and LED pages, or Click Here to see the Shamrock shown above.

Zach

Flicker Flame Lights!

2011-02-08T12:38:00.003-06:00

Flicker Flame lights are a unique type of Screw in light bulb that simulates a candles flame. They are used in a C7, or Candelabra, light sockets and are most commonly seen on Faux Wax Candle sticks. Flicker flame lights have 2 metal plates/filaments light up with a red and yellow color and the light looks like, well... a flickering flame.

We carry a 3 pack of Flicker flame bulbs and a 7 pack that includes a light string with a 2 foot bulb spacing. We also have a Traditional looking C7 bulb that has the flame style filament inside and a silicone coated bulb that has a soft glow for a completely different lighting effect.

These types of bulbs are popular in Candle sticks for window or table decoration, they are great in chandeliers or antique style lamp that traditionally would have used an actual candle. They are great for craft projects or custom creations were you need to simulate a flame without the risk of burning anything.

Head to our Specialty Page for links to Flicker Flame bulbs and much more!

Zach

Craft Lights! Perfect for bottles and glass blocks.

2011-01-27T09:21:00.004-06:00

We here at All American Christmas Co. are proud to carry the best mini light and LED craft light strings. For Mini lights our 20 count and 35 count light strings both are made with only one plug, we call these sets No End Connector sets (or NEC for short). These light strings have the male plug with up to 3 feet of lead wire (wire from the plug to the first bulb) and they end with a bulb instead of a female plug. So with these sets you cannot plug them end to end, which makes them great for decorating glass blocks or bottles.

Our 20's and 35's, as we call them, come in a variety of bulb colors with all the standard mini light colors being represented. These lights come on both Green and White wire. These strings are relatively short so you wont have a mile of wire inside your craft project, or have to have lights hanging outside the craft either, using sets that made for this type of project will help make a cleaner looking end product! Our 3 foot lead sets are great because you don't have to use and extension cord to plug the craft in in most instances!

We have a couple options for LED craft sets, we have two 25 light count sets that come on either white or green wire with Warm White leds. The sets are NEC and are a low power & long life alternative to mini lights. They have a higher upfront cost but are going to last over 10 times longer! We also have battery powered LED sets, they will last Approx 30 hours with 3 AA batteries, and would be great for decorating without having to worry about a wire running down the wall.

Click here for Mini lights & LED Craft lights!

Zach

2011 Bulb Sale Happening Soon!

2011-01-20T14:26:00.002-06:00

We are going to be putting all of our Replacement bulbs on sale for cities and businesses very soon. Cases of C7 and C9 bulbs in both Incandescent and LED styles will be highly discounted. Customers will be billed in Late Fall 2011 and products ordered will ship Late August/Early September 2011.

This sale is going to help cities and business get bulbs for replacing burnt out or damaged bulbs that are used in Holiday Decorating. Check our last blog to learn more about restoring displays!

Email or Call us to learn more about the upcoming sale!

Zach

Restoring your Christmas Displays

2011-01-17T10:07:00.006-06:00

The Holiday season can put some major wear and tear on Christmas Displays. Bulbs break and burn out, UV rays wear our plastic, Clips come loose or break and after multiple seasons your displays may look a little lackluster. Wear and tear is a natural thing and happens from use and even when you move them to storage. We get calls on a regular basis if we do restoration work for displays, we have brought old displays to life. We completely restored a intricate angel tree topper for Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, TN. But typically it's cheaper for the customer to do the restoration themselves.

If the display just needs bulbs replaced we suggest ordering all new bulbs, old bulbs don't burn as bright as new bulbs and it's obvious once the displays is on a lit that certain bulbs are new and some are old. We sell both Incandescent bulbs and LED, LED bulbs will cost more up front but save you money in the long run because they use such little power and their hard plastic bulbs are much harder to break.

Displays that are lit with Mini lights or small LED usually use Sculpture Clips to attach the sockets to the metal frame displays. These clips can come loose and get lost or break. If you're missing clips we have three different sizes in Black and White that are perfect for fixing up your Light displays. They come in 1/8", 3/16", and 1/4" sizes. The size of a sculpture clip reflects the size of the opening that will clip on the displays frame. You can easily measure your displays frame diameter with a crescent wrench and a ruler, simple slide the wrench onto the frame and tighten it down, slide it off them measure the opening and viola you have your size.

If you are lighting your display with C7 or C9 bulbs you will have to use 18 gauge wire with sockets on it. Replacing this wire is a fairly simple job. Remove all the existing wiring, and if you are so inclined now is the perfect time to wire brush and paint your frame ( a couple coats of a quality spray paint will work fine, just allow it to dry fully before wiring). There are a couple ways to secure the wire/sockets. You can use electrical tape to tightly wrap the sockets and wire to the frame, but always cut the electrical tape with scissors or a knife, pulling the tape causes it to stretch and after time it shrinks back to normal and will come loose. Another option is using zip ties. Both of these methods will take a long time so be patient and don't rush! The more you pace yourself and do it right the longer before you have to do it again!

I hope this gives you some insight into how you can go about restoring Christmas Displays!

--
Zach

Planning ahead for Christmas!

2011-01-07T15:48:00.006-06:00

When it comes to getting decorations for a city or town the key word is preparation. If you wait until September to order Pole decorations, Large Displays, Banners, or Holiday Signs you're going to be too late! Cities have started to get in touch with us on getting pole decorations. Since most cities and business still have some of their decorations still up it'll help you get an idea of what needs to be updated or replaced.

In our small town after the snowflakes we provided our main streets have already had bulbs burn out or get damaged so you can easily get an idea of how man bulbs your going to need for the next season. Many old pole decorations can easily be spruced up with new lights or switching to LED replacement bulbs. Making the switch to LED may be expensive but considering the long life of LEDs and the low power consumption it is a great option. A standard C7 Christmas bulb uses 5 watts where most LED C7 bulbs use .96 watts! So if a display has 150 bulbs with Incandescent lights will use 750 watts of power and LED will use 144 watts, which is a staggering about of electricity saved! Below is a difference between a Incandescent and a LED bulbs.

If you have an idea about replacing your downtowns Pole Decorations or adding new displays to your existing collection you can shoot us an email or give us a call. We have access to the largest Display manufacturers in the United States, so if you can dream it we can build it. We can help you design custom pieces, Welcome signs are a great type of displays to put at the entrance to your city or business, You can have a Welcome message and add a couple displays on the sides to tie it in. In Sparta, TN we made a Welcome to Sparta sign with an Acoustic guitar and Musical Notes because Lester Flatt (A bluegrass guitarist and songwriter) was born here. So you can see how something simple as a few displays could really speak volumes about your town or business.

Have any questions? Give us a call or email us!

Zach

Commercial Banners for every season!

2010-12-30T15:00:00.005-06:00

The Christmas season may be gone but its the time to start thinking about how to improve your Christmas Decorations for next season. Banners for your street poles are a great and easy way to decorate for your city or business. Commercial Banners are made of high quality vinyl or marine quality fabric and hold up year after year, banners range in styles and there are styles for every season and holiday. Screen printed banners have a limited number of colors but are cost effective and will last many many seasons. Digital printed banners have a full range of colors and can be heavily customized so you can easily make a banner exactly how you want it.

Commercial Banners come is sizes ranging from 17" x 36-45" to 30" x 96"! Almost all the banners have the option of customization, you can change the image size and rotation, and can add or edit text/fonts and more. We carry the finest quality banner hardware as well so you can safely mount them.

Banners are a great way to spruce up a street or a parking lot and a great way to advertise your business. Please email us with the style, size, and number of banners you need and we will quote you a price!

Click here to see the banners we have available!

Christmas Light Contest!

2010-12-20T10:59:00.005-06:00

We are having a 2 Christmas Light contests with prizes for you or your town! Please check the rules below and share with your friends!

City Decoration Contest:
We know a lot of cities need a revamp of their decoration so we're proposing this. Submit pictures of your Cities Christmas/Holiday Decorations and the city most in need of a sprucing up will win... 2 Large Commercial Lighted Wreaths & 1,000 Incandescent Bulbs for fixing decorations!
How to Enter:
Please Email us the following:
Your name. Your cities name. Address for City Hall. Phone number for City Hall. Name of person in charge of your towns decorations (If available). Attach a picture of your cities decorations.

Residential Contest:
So many of you go all out on decorating your homes and we want to help make your decorations light up the neighborhood even more! Submit a picture of your house all decked out in lights and decorations and the best looking decoration will win... 1 Large Commercial Christmas Displays
How to Enter:
Please Email us the following:
Your name. Your email address & phone number. Attach a picture of your decorated house.

*By entering our contests you give the right to use your submitted photos on our sites. However, we will digitally remove any personal information such as house number, license plate numbers on cars, etc so that anonymity is insured. If you do not feel comfortable with this, please do not enter.

Please email zach@aachristmas.com for all entries.

LED Snow Drop Lights

2010-12-13T15:46:00.003-06:00

We have these great animated Snow Drop Led Icicle lights available and ready to ship!

Each string has 5 LED Light Drops, Each Drop has 48 Chasing LED lights and is 12" tall, Snow Drops are Spaced 5' apart with 30' Total String Length, Includes Transformer to power sets and Add on sets.

These sets are great for hanging on gutters and look really cool strung in trees! Snow drop give the look of snow falling and water dripping. They are really cool and popular sets that more and more people are adding to their home decorations. Please visit the site or call us!

http://www.aachristmas.com/vpasp/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=392

Zach

NEW 10% off coupon code!

2010-12-09T15:09:00.000-06:00

That's right, we are now taking 10% off online orders when you use the code SAVE at checkout. Enter the code in the block pictured below when you are checking out, it's on the same page as your billing and shipping information.

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Zach

Magnetic C7 and C9 clips

2010-11-15T07:57:00.002-06:00

New!

We are proud to be offering the newest in clip technology, Magnetic Clips! These clips will securely attach a C7 or C9 socket to any Ferrous metal (ferrous = magnetic). These clips hold the socket in a vertical (seen left) or horizontal fashion, so you can easily decorate on a magnetic surface without using adhesives, staples, or nails.

Metal surfaces have always been a tricky party of holiday decorating, adhesives and sticky pads may leave residue or mar the finish. And of course nails, staples, and screws are going to leave holes in the surface. You need to be sure that the metal you're going to decorate on is magnetic, simply take a household magnet (pull one off the fridge) and see if it will stick to surface, if it stays put you have a surface perfect for these clips.

Most metal siding and gutters are made with aluminum, which IS NOT magnetic.

Our Magnetic Clips are available for both C7 and C9 bulbs in packs of 25. Click Here to check them out on the site.

Zach

10% Off Online Orders & No Minimum Online Orders!

2010-11-11T08:22:00.002-06:00

That's right, we are now taking 10% off online orders when you use the code AACC4U at checkout. Enter the code in the block pictured below when you are checking out, it's on the same page as your billing and shipping information.

We also no longer have a minimum order amount, so you can buy 1 box of bulbs or or 1 string of lights if that's all you need! We are trying to give customers more options for the products we sell.

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Zach

New Mini lights cases!

2010-10-14T17:13:00.003-05:00

We have greatly expanded our Mini Light case selection on the site. We now offer almost every single mini light string spacing on the market!

Spacings Available:

2.5"
3"
3.5"
4"
4.5"
6"

Where are the 8 inch you ask? Well not many people carry the 8inch anymore and most all of ours are limited to the stock we have on hand.

Now you can easily get cases of mini lights for your decorating project. It's perfect for decorating your home, business, yard, anywhere you need a lot of mini lights! Cases come in both green and white wire, and most cases have every color option available. All the mini lights we carry have shunted bulbs, whats a shunt? Well in a nut shell if a bulb burns out the shunt keeps the electricity flowing so the string doesn't go dead. Now, a shunt will not ever fix a light string that has a removed/loose/twisted bulb, if one of those things happen the string will indeed fail to light. Our Christmas mini lights strings feature 22 gauge wire (except our commercial mini lights which have 20 gauge wire) which is thicker and heavier duty than the wire you'll find on strings from hardware and department stores. Out mini lights are built to last, we've sold countless mini lights for decorating and craft projects from year and only choose the highest quality light strings on the market.

Check out our mini lights page to see all the great mini lights we carry!

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Zach

Ultra Thin LED Battery Sets in stock!

2010-09-24T10:15:00.008-05:00

We have just got a wide selection of Ultra Thin LED sets in stock! These sets are some of the coolest light strings period, these sets run on 3 "AA" batteries, have 18 Miniature LEDs on bendable wire.

The LEDs on these sets are Surface Mount LEDs and are typically directly on circuit boards in computers, electronics, toys, etc. But the are soldered to the wire and covered in a drop of silicone, they are vibrant, bright, and perfect for a multitude of decorating projects.

These sets are perfect for craft projects such as lighting Glass block and Wine bottles. You can even decorate costumes (perfect for Halloween and theater productions)! These sets are great for decorating greenery, the small wires are easy to hide and disappear at a distance. Putting them in garland looks great and they are perfect for table centerpieces.

We are happy to now carry more colors, we have Pure White, Warm White, Amber, Red, Green, and Blue available and ready to ship! Order early last season we sold out these sets in a few weeks and once they are gone we may not be able to get any more until next season.

Click here to visit the site.

Halloween light strings and displays

2010-09-08T12:39:00.003-05:00

Halloween is almost upon us and many of us like to decorate our homes with spooky lights and decorations. We have tried to have a large selection of lights, displays, and decorations for Halloween. We have Painted Orange C7 and C9 bulbs that will look great on Black wire, which you can decorated around your house and yard with. We carry Orange lights on Black wire for our mini lights which are great for decorating trees and bushes and decorating inside the house as well.

Our line of Displays includes some very cool Halloween light displays. We offer many styles of displays lit with both incandescent lights and LED lights. There are Jack o lanterns and pumpkins, bats, witches, ghosts, haunted houses, tombstones, to just name a few of the types of displays we offer.

We also have specialty light strings! Pumpkin lights, Scare crows, and more. Please visit the site and check out our Halloween section of the site!

Click here

Zach

Adding speakers to a musical Christmas controller.

2010-09-01T15:58:00.008-05:00

We've gotten some calls about out newest musical christmas controller, asking if you can use different speakers with the unit or add more speakers.

You can use a different speaker, the stock speaker is 8 ohms and we recommend matching the ohms. The bottom of the controller unit has a speaker out that is has a phono plug (RCA plug) jack so you will have to either have a speaker cable with that type of connector or make your own like we had to do in our office.

I used a old guitar cable which had bad 1/4" plugs but you can use cable with a positive and negative wire (even just normal 18 gauge wire will work, but may not sound the best), I wired up a solderless phono plug to the wire (I recommend soldering the wires if you plan to use this cable for multiple seasons) and stripped the other end so I could clip it into the back of the shelf stereo speaker I was testing.

I tested out the stock speaker, just for a comparison of the sound quality, plugged in the new speaker and it worked like a charm. Not only was the larger speaker better sounded but louder. The stock speaker is by no means bad, but the better the speaker the better the sound quality of course.

The other big question we get asked a lot is if the unit has a Line out. A line out is used to send the audio signal to another amplifier source of some sort. This unit does not TECHNICALLY have a line out. I have not tried using the speaker out as a line out, and I do NOT recommend this method. The speaker out is a powered output, meaning, it sends the powered signal from the units amp to the speaker and is not like a Line out.

The simplest solution is to go to a electronic store or most department stores electronics sections have a Y splitter cable from your audio source. This allows you to plug the Y splitter into your mp3 player then one side of the Y you can connect to the controller unit and the other side you can send out to an separate external amplifier. So you have your signal coming to the controller to control the lights and the other signal powering a external speaker source.

I hope this helps clear the air about this new unit. Thanks! Click here to see the controller on the site.

Zach

Faders are back.

2010-08-30T14:14:00.003-05:00

We are happy to be offering a new Fader. Our previous fader was very popular and the future of it's production is up in the air. In the mean while our new 2 channel Fader is in stock and ready to ship.

This Christmas light fader offers two channels, rated at 2.5 amps each. That's 750 mini light bulbs per channel, so one fader unit can handle quite a few lights. The box has a Speed knob, the unit fade slowly between the channels or go fast enough to simulate a flicker effect. This fader has a tab to fasten it via screw to a wall, but we recommend always protecting them from the elements in some way.

These Christmas Faders are only 34.97 are perfect for adding some movement to your Holiday decorations! Check out the site for even more info. Click Here

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Zach

Options for Icicle Lights

2010-08-26T16:09:00.006-05:00

We are constantly trying to expand what products we carry and I admit that the plethora of similar products can be a bit overwhelming and confusing. This is true for our Icicle lights. Icicle lights are staple during the Christmas season, easy to decorate with and great looking. We have carried Icicle sets for years and are constantly trying to keep the widest selection of lights available.

In efforts to bring the most options to the table we have expanded our standard 100 Count Icicle lights. We now carry 3 different styles of just the standard 100 count sets on Green and White wire.

ICICLE-100-GW-C

Our Preferred Set! 100 Clear Icicle Lights on Green Wire - 8.5' Lighted Length with 5" approximate spacing between drops - 18 Drops- Longest icicle drop is 22.75" - 6" Lead and 4" Tail
These sets are THE BEST for decorating. The short leads allow you to have less wire between sets which makes putting these sets up on a gutter or around your roof so much easier.

ICICLE-100-GW-C-LL

100 Clear Icicle Lights on Green Wire - 5' Lighted Length (7' in total length) with 3" approximate spacing between drops - Longest icicle drop is 15.5" and shortest 7.5" - 24" Lead and 4" Tail - All drops are approx.
These are the sets we've carried for years, they are reliable and good looking sets. They are perfect if you need a longer lead on your set if you need to bridge gaps without having to black out lights.

ICICLE-100-GW-C-Long Drops

Newest Set! 100 Clear Icicle Lights on Green Wire with Extra Long Drops - 9' Total Length with 6" approximate spacing between drops - 18 Drops- Drops range in length from 15" to 30" - 4" bulb spacing on drops - Bulbs clip to wire for a uniform look - 5 sets End to End
This is our newest icicle set. It has many advantages over previous sets we've carried. It has the same short leads, long Icicle drops, clips on the sockets to keep the bulbs pointing towards the ground, and you can plug 5 sets end to end (That's over 40 feet of lighted length on one run)

Most of these come with Clear bulbs on either White or Green wire. Please visit the site if you're interested in checking out our entire selection of Christmas lights. Click Here.

Zach

New Products On The Way

2010-08-23T15:27:00.002-05:00

We are getting in new products very soon. Stay tuned for new Icicle lights and new LED lights. I will post new products when we get them in stock. Stay tuned to the blog and the site for new products and decorating ideas!

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Zach

Banner Programs

2010-08-12T12:48:00.003-05:00

We carry a full line of Commercial quality banners on the website www.allamericanchristmas.com
Banners are great for cities, downtowns, parking lots, businesses, or parks. We offer a wide variety of banner styles as well, Spring/Summer, Fall, Winter, Christmas, All Seasonal styles, Patriotic. We also can have banners custom made with your own design ideas, our manufacturer can change just about everything about the banners except for their preset sizes.
Here is what is customizable:

Image Position, Rotation, Size, and Cropping
Change Color of Art Elements and Backgrounds
Text Alterations
Mix and Match Stock Design

Our banners are Digital Printed on heavy duty 18 oz vinyl or Screen Printed on Marine acrylic fabrics. These high quality banners will last many seasons with proper storage!

We also carry all the mounting hardware, our banner brackets are perfect for securing banners to light poles, street lamps, or anywhere else you'd like to start a banner program.

Here are some facts about our brackets:

Certified to 80 MPH Wind loads
Member SGIA
Preferred choice of banner installation professionals
One bolt "Sure-Lock" tension adjustment
Rust-proof cast aluminum
Easily custom colored
Solid fiberglass arms

Visit http://www.allamericanchristmas.com/shopsite/banners.asp to see all our banners and email us if you're interested in getting a quote on banners! Thanks

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Zach

Hanging Lights for a Wedding

2010-07-30T14:02:00.003-05:00

We get asked how to hang lights fairly often, and seeing as how most lights sold during this part of the year are used for Weddings and parties I thought I'd give some helpful tips for hanging lights!

If your venue has a drop ceiling then you can very easily hang lights! Simply use some string or zip ties to secure the wire to the metal frame. The image below shows how you can simply loop around the frame of a metal drop ceiling.
If the walls of the venue are drywall or fairly smooth you can use the Command adhesive hooks available at any local department store. They can easily hold a light string so long as you use a couple hooks to disperse the weight.Another option for curtain lights is making a frame. This can be done with wood or PVC. Just use two upright 2x4s or PVC pipes with some sort of base, connect the two with a horizontal piece, attach lights, then overlay sheer fabric to hid the frame. You can always paint the frame white so it's hidden better behind the fabric.

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Zach

Using Net lights for Curtain light alternative.

2010-07-15T15:29:00.004-05:00

Net lights are a style of mini light and LED light string used, typically, to lay on a large area for quick coverage. Many people use net lights for covering bushes and shrubs around their homes.
We are always trying to help people think up clever ways to use our products and recently we were helping a bride with an alternative to curtain lights for her wedding. We suggested hanging net lights behind sheer fabric.

Hanging Curtain lights is nothing new, and I've touched on it quite a few times, but not many people know the Net light trick! Below is a image of how a hung set of Net lights will look. You can hang them on a frame or on a wall for great effect! Our net lights come in 4 foot by 6 foot for our LED nets, and our mini light nets come 4 foot by 6 foot and 4 foot by 8 foot. Between those two size options you should be able to cover a large area with very little work, just hang, let the wire relax so the net looks good, and you're done!

Click here to check out our Net Lights!
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Zach

Wedding decorations with Battery Powered LED lights

2010-07-02T14:57:00.003-05:00

Now, I touch on this subject just about every other blog, BUT there are just so many wedding happening I thought I could lend some more insight. Weddings, likes so many of us know, don't always happen in churches. They can be in a field, large civic centers, plantations, homes, just about anywhere people can gather can be the venue for a wedding. While all of these sound like great places for a couples "special day" they can sometimes have a definite lack in the number of power outlets. Let's face it, fields usually don't have power outlets for a P.A. and with christmas lights beginning to become a staple at weddings we want to show that you don't need a wall outlet to light up your event...just a couple AA batteries.

Battery powered LED sets are great. There, I said it, they are awesome. They give you the same brightness and look as sets that plug into a wall but they can just for over a day on 2 AA batteries. We carry a variety of bulb styles for battery powered LED sets, Concave, Short M5, and M5. All of these work great, and we've had 1 set break on a customer in the 4+ years we've been selling them.

Concave - Our favorite, they have a simple style bulb that has the widest viewing angle, bright colors, and have a small bulb.
M5 - The look of classic mini lights only faceted. Simple long skinny bulbs that work great and add the perfect touch of light to a decoration.
Short M5 - Just like M5s just with a much shorted length.

All of these Battery powered sets work great for any application and would be the perfect addition to your special day. Click here to view these LEDs By the Set or
By the Case

New Music Christmas Light Controller!

2010-05-24T14:33:00.003-05:00

Holiday Lightshow Music controller and Timer with Speaker and 10 Songs
Includes: Control box with approx. 4' power cord & Speaker with approx. 15' attached wire. 2 Ground stakes

Product Features:
Energy Saver Timer Settings
On
Off
Dawn to Dusk (plays from sunset to sunrise)
or 2, 4, 6 or 8 hours (starts at sunset and plays for the statement amount of hours)

Easy-to-Use Control Box Function Settings
All On: all the connected items are on
Song Loop: plays all the preprogrammed songs
AUX: unit is on standby unless an MP3 player is connected
Effects: lights are on, but sound is off
Song Skip: moves to the next song 10 preprogrammed holiday songs

Built In Song List:
Deck The Halls
Oh, Come All Ye Faithful
Nutcracker Medley
HARK! The Herald Angels Sing
We Wish You A Merry Christmas
Bell Carol
Jingle Bells
Christmas Medley
Religious Medley
God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman

6 built-in power outlets; each rated for 1.25 amps - just plug in the lightshow items and you're done Replaceable 8A 125V UL fuse - helps guard against overloading

MP3 player compatible - customize your holiday lightshow experience by playing your own music; just turn the setting to AUX and plug in your own MP3 player

Control box measures approx. 10"H x 10"W x 5" deep
Speaker measures approx. 8-1/4"H x 5"W x 5-1/2" deep
ETL listed Made of plastic and electronics Runs on AC power

For indoor/outdoor use

Patriotic Holiday Lighting

2010-05-20T15:11:00.007-05:00

The term "Christmas lights" typically conjures up images of large pine trees lit up with miniature lights and houses lined with bulbs and icicle light sets, but we here at All American Christmas Co. think of "Christmas lights" as a label for a style of product and not a specific seasonal item. Since July 4th and local elections are in full swing we thought we'd do a write up on how lights and strings could be used to decorate for patriotic events and holidays.

Lighting for these type of holidays is really pretty simple! Mini lights are probably the easiest way to decorate, we offer Red, White (Clear if you want to be technical), and Blue lights on white wire. We currently don't offer a pre made Red, White, and Blue mini lights string with all the different color bulbs, but with a little patience you can make them pretty easy! Mini lights can be strung around tables, windows, doors, a porch, anywhere you can attach/hang them!

Led's come in a variety of styles that would look great for a patriotic party/even as well! These Star shaped LEDs look great and would be perfect for decorating. LED sets are great for use year after year, they last up to 50,000 hours and bulbs are incredibly hard to damage! Our battery powered LED sets are great for table decorations, or for lighting outdoors where there may be no immediate power sources. Battery powered LED sets last 9 times longer (if not more) than mini light battery powered sets!

Our Starlight spheres have a patriotic option as well, we have a 7.5' Starlight Sphere with a American flag theme we also have standard Spheres which you could hang together for a great look on your porch or hanging from the ceiling. You can mix and match sizes and colors for a great staggered effect. Spheres have a separate string for hanging so as long as you can find a hook of some sort they hang super easy!

Be sure to visit the site www.aachristmas.com and check out all the great products we have!

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Zach

How to and Product Info videos

2010-05-17T15:37:00.002-05:00

We are currently working on developing videos of products and step by step how to's on making custom products we explain so often over the phone. Seeing a video of a controller or specialty product in action speaks louder than words on a page Just being able to see how simple some of the products are to use will, hopefully, instill confidence if purchases of that product. We want to showcase our chasing controllers, our musical controllers, chasing mini lights, twinkle lights, repair and testers, projector, and other specialty products.

For our how to videos we want to show to set up products properly, how to make custom items, how to modify products for different uses. We have years of experience of hands on use with our products and the boss has years of experience with professional installation of everything from mini lights to gigantic commercial decorations. So we hope we can offer some insight into how to make you're light strings and projects come to life with ease.

Zach

Terminating a C7 or C9 light string

2010-03-22T15:49:00.004-05:00

We get calls, quite often actually, about how to end a light string without a plug. There are a few main ways to seal off the end of a light string, Electrical Tape, Liquid Electrical Tape/Insulation, or Heat shrink.

Electrical tape is the most convenient and fastest but sometimes in the weather it can shrink and unravel if not applied properly.

Always Cut Electrical Tape - Use scissors or a knife to cut your tape, pulling/tearing the tape stretches it and will lead to it shrinking in the weather
Separate both wires and wrap individually, then together. You don't want to risk a short across the exposed wires.
Wrap tightly, but again, do not stretch the electrical tape.

Liquid Electrical Tape/Insulation is a great alternative. You can paint, or dip the end of the wires into the can. Be sure to follow all the instructions on the can/container! For better results we recommended doing multiple coats, but be sure to let each coat dry in between applications.

Heat Shrink is a personal favorite of mine. It's safe, long lasting, and looks great. Be sure to use the proper size, in my experience the small the better.

Separate the wires and heat shrink individually. Leave excess on the end so that the end of the wires do not touch. I leave enough to fold over after first shrink process
Hit it with a heat gun for a few seconds
Fold the ends of the excess heat shrink down after you shrink it onto the wires
Slip a larger piece of heat shrink over both wires, making sure you keep the folded heat shrink down
Hit it with heat gun and you should have a nice looking, well protected tip of your wire.

I hope this gives some insight as to how we make custom light strings and how to properly terminate a C7 or C9 Stringer.
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Zach

Easter Lights

2010-03-15T14:15:00.002-05:00

Easter is April 4th this year so for those of us that go all out with the decorations there is just a little under a month left to get your decorations. We carry a selection of yard displays and lights that are perfect for the easter holiday. Our displays feature easter bunnies, eggs, flowers, Happy Easter signs, but we also carry many religious displays that would be perfect for decorating a church or home for this holiday. We have a selection of Crosses that would be perfect for the Easter holiday.

Many of our opaque (painted) C7 and C9 bulbs have a soft glow that's perfect for decorating; the pink, purple, teal bulbs have a very pastel appearance. String these bulbs on white wire for a very festive look. Or use C9 bulbs on a green wire with a large spacing and place them on your lawn to look like hidden easter eggs. The only limit to how one can decorate is ones imagination.

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Zach

Party and Prom lighting!

2010-02-27T12:11:00.003-06:00

Spring is on it's way and now isn't really the time were most people think to themselves, "I should put up some Christmas lights!" But if you look around this time of year "Christmas" lights are all around us, we see them at restaurants, bars, at parties, in shops, and for specials events an occasions. High School Proms are a great place for hanging lights, you can light table center pieces, lighting around windows, light trees, hang (or make) swag lights for the ceiling.

Creating a ceiling full of light strings is very popular for Proms, Weddings, and other Special Events. To get an idea of how many light strings you'll need you need to know the Length of the room, the Width of the room, approximately how high the ceilings are, and how far apart you want to space your lights. Typically you want to space your swags 3' to 5' apart, it sounds nice to really keep your strings close but that increases your number of strings and sometimes be too much visually. You'll want to use a bulb spacing of 4"-6", using longer spacings help you get more feet per string and less power sources. Mini lights can typically only do 3 sets end to end, so keep that in mind. We always recommend using our bare 18 gauge wire and quick-connect plugs to create your own custom power strips that you can run along a side wall to provide power for your strings. And remember, going Green with LED lights can let you easily decorate a large space with less power. LED lights use less than 20% of the power of your typical Mini lights, so you can connect more sets together and run less power cords for a cleaner look.

The sky is the limit with decorating for any occasion, never limit yourself to just mini lights. Sphere lights add an extra bit of dimension to your lighting. Twiggy or Rice lights are small lights that are great to hide in greenery. Flicker flames are a great way to simulate a candle, without the fire hazard! The options are endless.

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Zach
American Christmas Co.

Commerical Christmas Trees

2010-02-23T15:40:00.007-06:00

2010 is going to be a big year for All American Christmas Co., we are expanding our selection of commercial products starting with Commercial Christmas Trees. Here are some facts about our Large Commercial Christmas Trees:

Sizes range from 12' to 100'
Mini Lights, C7 bulbs, or LED bulbs lighting options

Different construction styles:

Branch
Panel
Ice Light
Chain Trees

Click here to view what trees we currently have listed. These high quality trees are perfect for both indoor and outdoor applications. Commercial Trees are used in Shopping Malls, Downtowns of Cities, Churches, Driveway Entrances, Rooftop Displays, Drive-Thru Parks, Business Lobbies, the uses are endless. If you don't see exactly what you're looking for email us, we have access to some of the best tree manufacturers in the country and we can get the tree you need built to your specs. You can pick the style of build, the color of the foliage, the size, and the type of lights. Despite their higher up front cost, we recommend lighting all trees (commercial or otherwise) with LED lights. For Example, a 14' tall tree lit with C7 Bulbs has a total wattage of 3,120 (26.04 total amps) and the same tree only lit with LED bulbs has a total wattage of 599.04 (4.992 total amps). With LED you'll use just 20% of what you would with C7 bulbs, you don't have to use as much power which also helps when getting electricity to these large trees.

If you have any questions please check out the website or send us a email. We hope to add even more trees in early 2010. Thanks for reading.

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Zach

Lighting Glass Blocks (Repost)

2010-02-05T15:53:00.002-06:00

It seems like every day we get calls about people looking for lights to go inside Glass blocks, like the one shown above (image from www.homedepot.com). These glass blocks are usually used to make a wall or some sort of divider in a bathroom and can be found at places like The Home Depot. The way people put lights in these is really simple.

Get a pack of Glass Blocks
Get a Drill bit for drilling glass (1/2 inch is a good size)
Get some mini lights or LED lights that DO NOT have a end plug.
Drill a hole into the block where you would like to insert the lights.
Carefully push the lights into the block through the hole.
Plug them up to make sure you didn't loosen any bulbs during the install
If the lights work, you're done. Unless you want to wrap the block in ribbon , which is also popular.

These have been a very popular craft lately, we get a lot of calls and email asking about it. People use them for center pieces, gifts, and whatever else strikes their fancy. We have expanded our craft light sets to include both short and long lead wires and craft style LED lights that don't have end to end connectors. These LED sets are a perfect alternative to Mini light craft sets, they generate no heat, the bulb life is extraordinary, and bulbs won't come loose inside the blocks!

Click here to see our selection of mini lights and Click here to see our Craft LED Lights

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Zach Broyles
All American Christmas Co.

Valentine's Day!

2010-01-11T14:29:00.004-06:00

Our next big holiday coming up is Valentine's Day and we do have a selection of lights and displays to help enhance the day for your business, party, or just for someone special. We have some great heart and cupid displays that are perfect for hanging indoors and out. Click here to check out Valentine displays.

Our Red light white string mini light strings are perfect for decorating, mini lights come in a wide selection of bulb counts and spacings. 20, 35, 50, and 100 bulb count strings have a red bulb on white wire option and all have a clear bulb on white wire. Click here to go to our mini light page.

If you really want to go all out, our rose lights are great for decorating tables or any where that needs a little something to really make it special. They come in White, Red, and a Pink style with 10 bulbs on white or green wire. We really like these sets, they are high quality and don't look cheesy like most other decorative/novelty style light sets, which is really important on a special day like valentines day. Click here to find these sets on the site.

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Zach

Storing Christmas Lights

2010-01-06T12:11:00.002-06:00

The season has come and gone, but like many of us great procrastinators out there I'm sure many of you still have up your tree and lights. Here are some simple and easy steps on how to properly store your lights!

Take care when removing your lights. Don't just yank them down off the tree or the house. Take the time to do it right, you'll be glad you did next year.
Fix faulty strings BEFORE you store them. Taking the time to fix your sets now will save you the time, money, and stress next season! Invest in a tester tool or repair box.
Unscrew the bulbs. What is a sure fire way to make a knot in your light line and break bulbs? Not removing them before storage. Those little boxes we ship C7 and C9 bulbs in are really handy, don't toss them. Save your boxes and properly store your bulbs and they'll last longer.
Wind up your mini lights. Here is a easy tip on storing mini lights and other pre made light strings, take a scrap cardboard piece and cut it into a rectangle, cut a small slit on one side of the board and slip your plug into that slit, start wrapping your lights around the board without overlapping the wires, when you get to the end of the wire cut another slit and put the end plug or bulb into that slit.
Proper Storage. As with all your holiday decorations it's best keep them in a dry place and in a good container. Manly people use plastic storage boxes and they are a great way to go, get the kind with a lid that snaps or latches on.
Labels, labels, labels. Label those boxes! So many times I've misplaced decorations and or gotten out the wrong box when decorating.

Follow these steps and take time when storing your lights and next years decorating off without a hitch!

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Zach

2010 is here! Time for a Sale!

2010-01-05T11:28:00.003-06:00

It's been a while since we've updated the blog. Well we had a great season this year, thanks to so many people taking advantage of our coupons we had going on in the season. We appreciate all of the business that new and old customers had with us this year!

Now, we are having a end of the year sale. Click here to see whats on sale! We are selling Mini lights, LED lights, C7 & C9 Bulbs, Rice lights, Icicle Lights, Spheres and more! Some of these products are discounted up to 50% off our standard price! We are not going to have all of the products on sale permanently so order early and gear up for next season.

This next year we hope to really improve both aachristmas.com and allamericanchristmas.com, we hope to offer more of the large displays and products for commercial customers.

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Zach

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-24T08:20:00.002-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving! As a way of saying thanks to our customers we are offering a 5% coupon on all online orders. Enter the coupon code Turkey2009 during checkout to get the discount on your order. We are running this sale until Dec. 5th so order early to make sure you get your lights delivered well before Christmas rolls in!

Please note that this offer is only valid on online orders only.

New Long Lead Craft Lights and LED Craft Lights

2009-11-07T08:26:00.002-06:00

We are now carrying two lines of Craft Mini lights, we have a 12" lead and now a 36" lead. These 36" Mini Light craft sets come in both a 20 bulb count set and a 35 bulb count set. All the options you would expect are here, all standard colors, and both white and green wire. But the really selling point of these strings is the long lead, sometime a foot of wire just isn't enough for a plug on craft projects. Adding another 2 feet may not seem like a big improvement, but when you're trying to hide wire and use less extension cords, it is! Let's use some underscores to prove a point, The first row is 6 underscore lines and the second line I just copied and pasted 3 sets of 6 so imagine the first line is 12" inches and the next line is 36"...big difference, huh?
______
__________________

We have these sets in cases of 25 and individual sets and they are ready for immediate shipment! These sets have a 3" inch space and 8' total length. We are determined to bring our customers the most options available and our craft lights have to be our most popular product line!

Speaking of options, we now have 2 sets of LED lights that are perfect for crafts! These new sets are a 25 Light set with Warm White Concave style bulbs and come in both Green and White wire. They have a 6' total length with a 3.5" bulb spacing with a 24" lead wire! These are the perfect mini light alternative, you can go green and make some killer looking crafts...all at the same time!

Ultra Thin LED lights

2009-10-12T10:26:00.009-05:00

We love our LED battery powered sets, they are perfect for decorating parties, for holidays, weddings, and crafts. Last year I even used some battery powered LED lights inside a jack-o-lantern for some cool effects. But until recently the most exciting thing to happen to battery powered lights lately was the availability of more bulb styles, which is...kind of boring. Well, that all has changed with the introduction of Ultra Thin LED lights.

These are some of the coolest lights I've ever seen. We got our cases in and pulled out a set. Well right off the bat we knew these tiny sets were something special, their packaging is about 3 inches wide and 1 inch deep. After removing the set from its packaging we pop in 3 AA batteries and boom, all of 18 small LEDs light up and are very bright for as small as they are. The picture to your left makes these bulbs look like they are about half an inch long, in reality they are about the size of a uncooked piece of rice. The wire itself is not insulated rubber wire but stiff wire that has been coated with a form of paint for insulation. It's easily bent and twisted but doesn't feel brittle or that it's going to snap into pieces after bending the wire a couple times. We ran a test in house to see how long they'd last on 3 AA batteries, and they ran almost continuous for around 48 ours easy.

Again it's hard to imagine how small these bulbs really are so here are some pictures of them next to some common items. You can see how much small it is when compared to a dime and even the tip of a ball point ink pen, and see how small they are laying on a ruler.

Click here to check out these cool sets on the site!

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Zach
All American Christmas Co.

Happy Labor Day, we like to call it New 20's Day!

2009-09-07T12:54:00.003-05:00

So when you're a family business trying to do all you can to keep your website up to date sometimes you have to work on holidays, but hey, it's good for the customer right?!

We have a new line of 20 mini light cases, they are just like our other 20 light sets but instead of being limited to Clear and Multi colored sets, we now carry a full line of colors! Amber, Blue, Green, Teal, Read, Yellow, and Teal and now ready for drop shipment! They are packed 25 sets to a cases and are priced just like our other sets.

Check them out and start getting crafty with these new Mini light sets! Click here to view.

UPDATE! The white wire will be in stock in two weeks. Looks like my excitement in new lights got the better of me.

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Zach

Happy Halloween!!

2009-09-04T15:09:00.000-05:00

LED Craft lights

2009-08-31T14:46:00.003-05:00

Finally, the long wait is over. We have in stock our very own, custom 25 light count Wide Angle LED light sets with No End Connector! They are $9.99 and have all the massive benefits of LED while giving you the same convenience that the 20 and 35 light count mini light sets.

Some of this sets benefits are, Low power consumption (2.4 watts a set!), No heat, Warm White bulbs (simulate incandescent bulbs), 2 foot power lead, No end connector (great for crafts!), Wide angle bulb to evenly spread out the light

Here is the difference in color between incandescent mini lights and warm white led craft lights

These sets may be more up front than the 20 count and 35 count mini lights, but they are going to outlast those other sets for many many seasons. If you're making crafts for yourself or for someone else these sets will also really help you save on electricity, 25 ct LED Craft sets pull 2.4 watts a set, but a 20 mini lights pull 9.6 watts a set, that's 1 watt for every 2 bulbs!

Head to our craft section or led page to check these sets out, or click the links below
Click here!

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Zach

Icicle light sets and bulbs

2009-08-21T09:28:00.006-05:00

Growing up it always felt more like Christmas when I would start to see the houses in my hometown being lit up with icicle lights. It's funny how something so simple as lights around a roof line can really put someone in the Christmas mood. Why icicle lights are a great Christmas light decoration? Well they are easy to install and they are look great once the wire settles out and the drops straighten. Just hang them properly on your gutters or under the roofing material and they will look great all season, just don't be lazy try and to take them down before Valentine's Day.

All American Christmas Co. has a full line of Icicle lights available to let you decorate you home or business exactly how you want. Our traditional incandescent bulb Icicle Lights come in a variety of options, which include:

Green or White wire color
100, 150, or 300 bulb counts
Clear, Red,Green, Blue, Purple, and Multi Colored Bulbs
Random Twinkle, Dripping, and Color Changing Effects on certain strings
Commercial Quality Heavy Duty Icicles

These icicle light sets are great for just about any application, where one might use icicle lights anyway. The different bulb counts let you decorate with more control over the number of bulbs. The colored bulb sets let you stand out from everyone else, or match a color motif you may already have. The Random Twinkle and Dripping sets give you some motion so you aren't just with static lights if you don't want some movement on your sets. The color changing sets again add some movement and the ability to change the color of the strings back and forth with a controller.

We also carry a line of LED Icicle lights. These LED Icicle sets have a M5 Bulb style and come in Pure white, Warm White, Multi, Blue, and Wave Colors. Wave sets change from Pure White to Blue, inside the bulb itself. We also carry a new screw in C7 base Icicle bulbs, these bulb sets are great if you are outlining your hows with C7 LED bulbs. Every couple feet or so throw one of these cool looking (pardon the pun) into a socket to simulate the look of icicles hanging from the roof.

If you have any other questions pertaining to our selection of Christmas icicle lights, head over to the website and take a look around and send us a email if you need.

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Zach

Sport Rope Light Signs, Just in time for football season!

2009-08-11T15:28:00.001-05:00

Just in time for football season! These signs are lit with high quality rope light and are Licensed Logos by the NFL, MLB, and NCAA! These are great for use indoor and out to let people know what team you root for!

Some more specs from the manufacturer:

A unique, cost-effective alternative to Neon signs
Display indoors or outdoors to show your team spirit
Wall and ground mounting systems included
Durable rope light with 1" bulb spacing, shaped and mounted on a steel frame
NFL/MLB/NCAA licensed
UL Listed

Click here to see what all sports team signs we have in stock!

--
Zach

New 35 light count colored mini lights!

2009-08-01T09:21:00.000-05:00

We finally received our shipment which had all our specialized Christmas Mini Light strings on it, so our stock is replenished and we have some new products for sale.

Our 20 count and 35 count have been our best selling sets all summer! We're happy to say we're adding 2 new color sets to the 35 light count White Wire sets, Blue and Red! Sure, white wire strings with colors is nothing new, but it is for our 35 light strings. These sets will surely make their way into countless craft projects, parties, weddings, and holiday displays.

More information on our 35 light count sets:
Approx. 3 Inch Spaced 35 Red Mini Lights on White Wire - Stackable (Male) plug with No End Connector - 12" Distance from the male plug to the first bulb - Approx. 9 ft in length

Click here to check out the new mini light strings we have in stock.

The elusive colored 20 count Mini Light string!

2009-07-24T13:39:00.000-05:00

A customer of ours was in need of something that we at All American Christmas Company consider an oddity, a 20 count light string with colored lights. Not Multi colored mind you, just a string of one consistent color. Now one might think, "Hey, I can just take this old 100 count set, jerk the bulbs out, and put in this 20 set!" and you would assume that it would work...well, it will not work. We hate to be the bearer of bad news but there is a very simple explanation for this, bulb voltages. Most all 50 count and 100 lights strings use a very standard 2.5 volt mini lights bulb, however mini light strings with smaller bulb counts use bulbs with higher voltage. 35 count sets use 3.5 volts and 20 lights use 6 volt.

This is why one just can swap bulbs for sets, you can't go mixing or changing the bulb voltages. If you are curious as to what your light sets have check any documentation or labels that come with the sets. If you have any sort of paper work in the box or poly bag then it should have some indication of bulb voltages.

Back to colored sets, none of our distributors have 20 count minis that come in anything beside clear and multi. Sure there may be someone out there that has them, but the big names in the game that we go through sadly do not. There is one "work around" but it takes extra sets and some patience, our multi colored have Red, Green, Blue, Yellow, and Pink. Normally our 20 count multi sets have 4 bulbs of the 5 colors on one string, so you can take 5 sets you can mix and match the bulbs to make 5 sets of complete colored sets. And before the wheels start turning, no we don't do this. It's about as simple as stacking Lego bricks, so you shouldn't worry.

Another question that we get asked is if you can clip the wires on a set to shorten it. No, it'll screw with the voltage of the set itself, and it's better to work around it than kill the string and have to buy another!

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Zach

Banner Programs

2009-07-23T11:30:00.000-05:00

On our commercial site, www.allamericanchristmas.com, we have just completely revamped our banner sections. The new categories are Spring/Summer, Autumn, Winter/Holiday, All Season, Patriotic, and Junior Size. These 6 different sections mean that you can get the prefect banner for your city, town, business, or where ever it may be you want to hang banners. These new high quality come in Screen Print (up to 4 colors) and Full Color Digital Prints. On the Digital Prints everything can be customized, you change the font, the colors, sizes of images, and so on. The ability to customize means that banners can be perfect matched to your needs! All banners are made on high quality fabrics that will hold up season after season.

We can also create custom banners from customer artwork or ideas so that logos and images can faithfully be represented. We can help you design and actualize your ideas.

There is a new line of hardware for these banners, these high quality mounting kits will securely hold your banners season after season.

Please visit our other site to see all the banners we have to offer. Click Here

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Zach

The different types of plugs for Christmas lights

2009-07-07T15:10:00.000-05:00

There are quite a few different types of plugs that you'll find at the end of different light sets. Some are just manufacturer preferences, some are specific for types of lights, and some are designed to meet electrical standards of the sets themselves.

For most mini lights you'll find fused male plugs, fused plugs have a small electrical fuse inside the plug (usually protected by a sliding door) so that if there is an overload in the wire or problem the fuse takes the hit, not the bulbs. Fused plugs are also found on low bulb count C7 and C9 stringers sometimes. You can usually spot if a plug is fused because the plug itself is rather large and will have some sort of door for opening the fuse compartment.

For small bulb count mini lights you can sometimes find stack plugs. Usually mini light strings with 35 or less bulbs come with this style of plug so you can stack the plugs for craft projects. The male plug has a female connection on the back so you can stack the plug with other plugs.

Some style of Christmas lights have detachable or specialized plug that allow you screw multiple sets together. Some rice lights (ultra rice sets) have this type of separate power plug and all the Commercial quality LED sets have specialized removable power plugs.

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Zach

Lighting Glass Blocks and Bottles

2009-06-22T13:43:00.000-05:00

One trend that is going strong and looks to continue to do so is Lighting Glass blocks and Wine/Champagne bottles. How you go about making these is really only limited to budget and/or tools available. You'll need to have some sort of drill bit or hole saw designed to cut glass, diamond bits are a good choice.

You'll clean the bottle or block and be sure to remove any labels (if you so choose), tape off the area you're wanting to drill with some duct tape and mark where you're going to want to drill.

Now, you can use a hand drill, but you've got to keep the object steady, it's better to go with something like a Drill press and have some sort of jig made up to hold your bottle or block perfectly still. You may want to use some sort of lubricant (WD-40 oil or something similar) to keep the glass from shattering.

Once you've drilled the hole that you're going to fish the lights through, remove the tape and rinse the bottle to remove any tiny bits of glass.

Once you've done all that your bottle is ready for lights! We carry 3 different styles of lights at this moment are perfect for this style of craft! Click here to go to our Mini Light page Our 15, 20, and 35 count light strings are great for this stuff because they have a small bulb count and don't have a end connector. That means lower heat and no clipping off plugs! We have a variety of wire and bulb options that will work for any style of craft and any color glass, not just white/clear or green glass! We also have LED battery lights which would work well for these Glass projects and would not limit you to placing these items by a power outlet. Click here for Battery Operated LED sets and Here for Cases

Plug up your light string when you're inserting them, why? The biggest reason is so that you don't loosen the bulbs and kill the string and saves you from having to redo it. The smallest bit of preparation saves you from giving yourself a headache.

Once your lights are in and working, decorate any way you see fit. Some people light to put on rub on transfers, or bows, or paint. Just be sure to take your time and have fun with it!

We have a large selection of lights perfect for this and will soon be carrying small count LEDs strings that would work great for this style of project. They should be in in the next few months.

--
Zach
All American Christmas Co.

Mini Christmas Lights

2009-06-16T12:54:00.000-05:00

Mini Lights are arguably the most common of Christmas lights available on the market today. Theres a handful of names for them (twinkle lights, fairy lights, miniature lights, tree lights, the list goes on) and year after year regardless of the popularity of LED Christmas lights, Mini Christmas Lights always come out on top.

We do get questions about these lights on a fairly regular basis.

How Many Sets Can I Plug Together?
The rule we go by is 3 sets, or no more than 300 bulbs. Typically 300 mini light bulbs is about 1 amp (or 110 watts) and you're best not to exceed that in one continuous run of lights, if you do then you run the risk of two things blowing fuses or blowing bulbs. Neither of those two make for a good decorating project, so we suggest making custom light power strips (click here to learn how!). This rule of 3 (or 300) is good for any style of mini light product; strings, icicles, curtains, nets, the list goes on.

Can I clip the plug off of the end if I don't need it?
WE NEVER RECOMMEND CUSTOMIZING A LIGHT STRING! This is a question you always have to answer carefully, because if a set has JUST TWO (2) wires going into the female plug, yes you can so long tape each wire off separately. If your set has more than two (2) wires then no, you shouldn't clip the plug off. PLEASE NOTE, we never recommend doing this because you're putting yourself at risk, and we of course will not be held accountable for any warranty or replacement for a customized string. So if you can get by without clipping the end plug, please do so. Or look at our No End Connector (NEC) sets as an alternative.

What does "End Connector" mean?
This is probably the second most common question we get and the answer is quite simple, think of the "Beginning" of a string as the plug that goes into the Wall, the male plug. The "End" of the string is the opposite end of the string were there is (or isn't) a female plug. The majority of 50 to 100 bulb count light strings have a end connector so you can connect sets "End to End". Our most popular Mini light strings have to be our "No End Connector" sets, these sets only have the male plug at the beginning of the string and end with a bulb instead of a female plug. NEC (no end connector) sets are perfect for crafts and decorating where you don't need and/or want that plug at the end of a string.

If one bulb burns out, do the rest stay lit?
Yes, almost all of the sets in production now come with a shunt. A shunt keeps the power flowing through the bulb even if the filament is burnt out or broken. All of our mini lights have this feature, and we hope that those old days of burnt bulbs killing strings are a thing of the past. Now remember, if a bulb is loose or twisted it WILL cause the string to not light, regardless of the filaments condition.

--
Zach
All American Christmas Co.

Christmas Lights.org

2009-06-16T12:23:00.000-05:00

A new site we've been working on for a while is finally up and running. What we plan on doing with this site is to provide as much general (and technical) information on products as possible. Building a sort of Online Christmas Light information database, helping the general public get a better knowledge of how LED Christmas Lights work, or how many Mini lights you can string together. Be sure to check it out!

Christmas Lights.org

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Zach

New Battery Powered Christmas Lights

2009-06-09T15:06:00.001-05:00

We've been slowly, but surely, expanding our selection of battery powered LED Christmas lights sets to have one of the largest LED battery powered sets online. The old Battery powered Christmas light strings were something of a novelty, they were usually a very poor construction, had dim bulbs, used large "C" size batteries, and the battery life on some sets were less than 6 hours. So, you get a relatively inexpensive set of lights that runs on some of the more expensive batteries that you've got to replace after just a few uses, is that really shopping smart?

Enter LED Battery Powered sets, these sets come in a variety of bulb styles (Concave, M5 and Short M5) and really ramp up the quality compared to those old incandescent bulb sets. These sets use the more common "AA" batteries and can be run for 20+ hours before they've started to dim (and even then, they are still lit). Sets start around 13 dollars, and while that is higher than even a normal set of mini lights all the benefits of the leds will really add to the value of these sets.

These sets come in all your standard LED Colors; Pure white, Warm White, Multi Color, Red, Blue, Green, etc... And some colors come with a White Wire option.

Battery Powered LED stringers look great for Weddings, Parties, Proms, or anything other special occasion. Not only are they great for the above mentioned lighting applications but they are awesome for craft projects. So many people are doing the Glass Block and Glass Bottle light craft projects and these sets are PERFECT for this type of craft. LEDs generate no heat, the batteries allow you put the craft practically anywhere, and the bulbs wont come loose and rarely , if ever, burn out.

Click here to check out all of our Battery Christmas Lights

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Zach

The Benefits of Timers.

2009-06-05T13:00:00.000-05:00

Timers are a great way to control your holiday home lighting. By setting up times for your lights to burn you'll use less energy and cut back on those high electricity bills and extend the life of your Christmas Light sets. Timers range in style from the simple analog to programmable digital models. The number of outlets also will vary between models, from one to six.

Timers let you set your light displays up to only turn on when the sun is going down. Simply set the time when you want your sets to come on and when you want them to turn off. Let's say you want your sets to come on at 8 o'clock am and off at 2 o'clock pm just set the "ON" setting to 8pm and the "OFF" setting to 2 am. With our analog style timers you can do this for a couple times a day. Our digital timers however allow you to do multiple timed events for individual days. Our heavy duty digital timer have 14 on and off settings per day, so that's a total of 98 settings per week, that's a lot of control. They are easy to use and program and normally retail for under 40 dollars.

These are a easy and relatively inexpensive way to keep on top of controlling the burn time of your lights. Unless you want to plug them up and control them yourself throughout the day, invest in a timer and take the hassle out of plugging all your lights up at night!

Click here to see our timer section!

Chasing Lighting Controllers.

2009-06-04T13:05:00.000-05:00

Since we started our site we've always tried to give customers the most affordable ways to control their lights at an affordable price. We work with one of the best lighting controller manufacturer in the country to bring reliable and functional Christmas light controllers to everyone.

Our Chasing controllers come in a variety of options. We have a preset controllers (shown on the left), on these controllers you simply plug your lights in and set a chase speed. These controllers come in 2, 3, and 4 circuit options with either a metal or plastic enclosure. To operate these sets you plug in your lights, power up the box, and use the small speed dial to set the speed at which you want your outlets. We've handled these for years and I can't think of a single instance of one of these being faulty from the factory, they are a quality Made in the USA controller that will last year after year.

We also have a programmable controller that allows you to create your own chasing pattern. These controllers are typically larger and more expensive but you can create much more elaborate chasing sequences. These controllers are used to animated larger displays, lets say you want to make a snow ball fight for two light displays, these controllers will do just that. They work by either changing some wire jumpers or setting positions on Dip switches. By adjusting these connections you can get the lighting show perfect for your Christmas or any display. These controller have the ability to power 3 to 10 different outlets and the higher number of outlets the more options you have for different lighting effects. These controllers are also Made in the USA.

New Specialty lighting products

2009-06-03T14:03:00.000-05:00

We've got a new handful of new specialty products coming and in stock. We got a selection of what is called Kringle Garland, Its a globe covered mini light garland set. It looks great for adding into greenery such as pine garland or wreaths. The sets are in two different cluster types, one with 3 globes, and one with two globes and one twinkle bulb. The twinkle bulbs are random and really look great and add some motion to a static piece. The globes have a iridescent look to them which adds to the look of these sets.

We have these sets in clear bulbs on green wire and multi color bulbs on green wire are coming soon.

We are also getting some new Micro and Ultra Thin LED sets. Micro LED sets have a very small LED bulb in a socket and feature 60 bulbs a set, our sets will be warm white on white wire. These sets are great for adding small points of light while decorating, such as parties or weddings.

Ultra Thin LED sets are a battery powered sets that have no large sockets but a small LED bulb thats part of the wire itself. This thin design lets you put light in areas where you wouldn't normally be able too. These sets run off 3 AA batteries, have 18 bulbs a set, they have a 18 inch lead and 4 inch bulb space. These sets are coming soon.

We're going to be blogging a lot more since I'm out of school for the summer. We've got some changes to make and improve our site. Stay Tuned.

--
Zach

Decorating with Curtain lights

2009-04-20T14:56:00.000-05:00

As trends go, the use of curtain lights for Non-Christmas events has risen steadily over the past 3 years. The biggest use of these Curtain sets has for this non holiday use has been for Weddings and other Special Events. The most common way people use these for weddings is by hanging them on a wall or on a frame of some sort. Keep in mind that the weight of normal curtain lights (which are constructed like icicle mini lights) and Commercial curtain lights GREATLY vary in terms of weight.

Hanging curtain lights from your wall is, fairly, simple. If you have a drop ceiling then you can easily use a light weight wire or string and hang them from the ceiling grid. If you have walls you can drill or hammer nails into then you can very easily put some nails or hooks up. The biggest issue people run into is not being able to drill into a wall, or having concrete walls that have no drop ceiling you have a couple options. If you can hide it there is always heavy duty tape, duct tape of some sort comes in a variety of colors and even clear duct tape is now available. Some people have said they have used items like 3M's Command Line of adhesive hooks and hangers to hang these sets, you just have to make sure with any type of product that you can distribute the weight evenly. Nothing is worse than hanging your sets only to have not hung them properly and they come tumbling down in one section or the whole set.

Hanging them from some sort of frame is and easier option, so long as the frame itself can handle the weight. The frame or stand could be anything from just a couple pieces of PVC pipe made into a stand or frame of wood or metal. After you construct your frame/stand you can easily mount your sets, depending on it's constructing you can screw clips, mount nails, tape, zip tie, the list goes on and on. This can also allow you to hang some sort of fabric in front of your lights. This is a great way to set the mood and soften up the lights. Like in the picture below.

I hope this give you a little insight into hanging curtain lights. Please visit our curtain light section and wedding section for more wedding decorating ideas!

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Zach

New LED sets for crafts!

2009-03-21T11:34:00.000-05:00

So I've rambled and ranted about why LED bulbs and light sets are a better investment and so on, but every once in a while a new product shows up on the horizon and we get really excited in our office. We got a call from one of our suppliers/manufacturers about a new set designed for those people who need a LED for smaller scale and craft projects. After some negotiation with the factory and deliberation in our office we came up with a set that's going to be, dare I say, perfect for the niche it needs to fill.

Coming very soon is a LED light set that will have approx 20-25 Bulbs, 3-4 Inch Spacing, and no end connector and a extra long lead wire!!

...chances are you aren't as excited as we are, though, you should be if you are a fan of making crafts with Christmas lights. Imagine how you're Glass Blocks and Wine Bottles will look with these sets. They will generate no heat use very little power! The extra footage for the power chord means less extension chords, and the long life and reliability of these sets means less issues with customers. I could go on!

Stay tuned to the blog and I'll be sure to post when these great sets will be in for sale.

--
Zach

The difference...

2008-12-12T13:25:00.000-06:00

Just a quick video to show the difference between No End Connector and End to End Christmas light sets. NEC (no end connector) sets are perfect for crafts and smaller scale lighting projects. Stay tuned for more videos!

--
Zach
All American Christmas Co.

THANKS!

2008-12-07T10:57:00.000-06:00

Thanks to everyone who took advantage of our 5% discount coupon. This coupon code is no longer valid.

Christmas LED Lights for everyone!

2008-11-07T08:56:00.000-06:00

So we've been making sure that we're going to have the widest selection of LED lights available. We've added our new Rectified sets which are better for using on controllers. There are a lot of new specialty style LED bulbs like stars, snowflakes, and other really cool looking bulbs. We've added more sets on White Wire and light colors. There are new Auto/Boat sets that have a cigarette lighter adapter and they look great when you're driving to see the family...or taking the boat out...in December.

Visit us to see all the LED Christmas lights we offer!

New products!

2008-10-19T18:06:00.000-05:00

Long time no post! School and lot's of warehouse work has kept me from posting as diligently as I should. Exciting news otherwise, we are currently adding new products almost everyday so this Christmas you'll have even more option available.

NEW LEDS! We are currently adding new styles, colors, and new feature LED sets. We have a lot more battery operated LED sets, custom bulb shapes, and Rectified sets. Our new commercial Rectified sets, which should be up by the end of the week, are the newest in LED tech. These sets can fade and work great on controllers, they don't have that slight flicker effect that some sets do.

We have added and updated many of our Christmas Displays, new pieces that you can use to decorate your home, yard, business, church, or anywhere else you can run an extension cord to.

Bookmark the site and check back for new products often.
--
Zach Broyles
All American Christmas Co.

Halloween lights

2008-08-21T15:16:00.000-05:00

Halloween is just right around the corner and we have upped our selection of Halloween lights and decorations. We now have multiple styles of halloween novelty light strings, pumpkins, spiders, etc. These styles of light strings are great for parties or decorations your home for trick or treaters. There are quite a few of displays that are great for putting in the yard, tombstones, ghosts, witches, and pumpkins are all available.

We also have orange light and black wire sets of lights available. Mini lights, Icicle Lights, and C7 style bulbs are in stock ready for this October!

Halloween is always a great holiday and while I wouldn't say it's overlooked, it easy to just throw a jack-o-lantern on your porch and say you decorated. Kids love trick or treating and if you live in a area that has a lot of activity on halloween kid's always remember the home that's all...spookified.

Click to check out our selection of Halloween lights.

Zach Broyles

DIY Christmas Lights extension cords...

2008-08-13T09:34:00.000-05:00

Getting power to your light strings can be somewhat of a pain. If you use cords you buy at a department store chances are you're going to have cords that are to long or to short and your left thinking, "Wouldn't it be awesome if I could make my own cords". We here at All American Christmas Co know first hand the hassle of dealing with using large bulky cords for a couple strands of lights.

Rolls of 18 gauge bare wire are perfect for making your own custom Christmas light extension cords. We have them in 100 and 500 foot cuts in both white and green wire. We have both in SPT-1 and SPT-2 wire and offer some rolls in 16 gauge size. When you combine these rolls of these our Quick Connect plugs you can make almost any length cord for your lighting project. Check out the digram below to see just how easy it is to use our Quick Connect slide on plugs with our Bare Wire rolls.

You can also modify the slide on Female plugs to make a DIY Power Strip. Click here to see how to make them.

Visit our Clips and Electrical Supply page to see all our Rolls of wire and plugs.

Rope Light, "The" Alternative to Neon

2008-07-31T13:47:00.000-05:00

Rope Light, Flex Lite, Plastic Neon, It goes by many names but they are almost always the same product. This flexible plastic lighted tubing is a very popular style of lighting and have a very large number of uses. The most common use for ropelight is outlining, you can use it to outline you building or roof, you can outline signs, they are common place on light displays. People like using this style of lighting for some sort of mood/back lighting. You can hide it and use it this way, underneath a shelf or counter to light up a floor for example.

There are a handful of different styles of ropelight available, sizes vary from 3/8", 1/2", 5/8". They come in a few different Wire counts, 2 wire, 3 wire, and 5 wire. 2 Wire rope light can only flash/fade with a controller, 3 wire can chase, twinkle, flash with a controller, and 5 wire has the same capabilities that the 3 wire has. To help picture how they are animated think of 3 Wire as broken down in to sets of 3 bulbs, so when they chase it's ever first bulb in a set of 3. 5 Wire works the same except there is more bulbs to a broken down set.

Each variant of rope light has it's own specialized power adapters, connectors, splice kits, and so on. You cannot use a 2 wire power connector with a 3 wire ropelight and vice versa.

For more information on Rope Light visit our Rope light page.

Using Christmas lights for mood lighting...

2008-07-22T10:49:00.000-05:00

More and more weddings nowadays are using Christmas lights to set a mood, but you can't just buy a bunch of lights and just string them up like crazy...there is an art to it. Here is a couple tips that might just help you achieve the look you're going for in your head.

Space - Getting bulbs that are spaced further apart (4-8 inches) will really help disperse the light to create more MOOD not just LIGHTING.
Pattern - If you intend on using a pattern STICK TO IT! Don't give up halfway, because even if you are just using lights to set a mood...people notice laziness.
No Patterns - Not using a pattern or a set layout is a nice way to create a ceiling of stars or something similar. Use wide spaced sets and try to just have fun, this is usually better for areas that are not going to be main focal points.
# of Bulbs - People think you really need to flood the area with light...you don't. If being able to see isn't a key you can sometimes use a third less lights to just give everything a soft glow.
Twinkle - The only standalone twinkle set we offer is only available on green wire,BUT if you are lighting greenery mixing in a coule random twinkle sets really look great. We also have 150 Multi function sets that can twinkle and comes in white wire.

Remember less is more, though if it's too dark...just hang some more lights!

--
Zach Broyles
All American Christmas Co.

Sport Displays

2008-07-17T13:29:00.000-05:00

They're here! We've got all our sport signs up and you just have to see for yourself how great they look. Like I said in the last post these signs are great for anyone looking for an alternative to neon, they work great in a bar, your loungs, a sports memorabilia room, and anywhere sports fans get together. They use approx. 100 watts of power, are lit with 1" Bulb spaced 2 Wire Ropelight, and can be wall mounted/hung or ground mounted. Oh, and they ship for free with FedEx!

Click here to view our great selection of Sport Displays
--
Zach Broyles
All American Christmas Co.

Coming soon, Sport Logo Displays!

2008-07-11T09:36:00.000-05:00

We have been talking to one of our suppliers and very soon we are going to begin carrying Rope light sport displays, many of the most popular NFL and MLB teams already have signs being made and they look amazing.These Sport signs are great for you home, sports bar, restaurant, anywhere where sports fans congregate. These signs have a high quality metal frame, are lit with top of the line rope light, and come ready to hang right out the box. These signs are lightweight too so that you won't have to worry if they'll rip the hook out of the wall.

Besure to visit the site and we'll keep you updated on these signs as we get them posted.
Here's the list of teams we hope to have:

Broncos
Packers
Cowboys
Patriots
Colts
Rams
Giants
Jets
Bills
Chiefs
Bears
Vikings
Seahawks
Ravens
Redskins
Steelers
Raiders
Eagles
Cubs
White Sox
Yankees
Red Sox
Mets
Dodgers
Lions
Cornhuskers

Icicle and Curtain Lights

2008-07-07T13:37:00.000-05:00

Icicle lights, of all the ways to decorated ones home or business they have to be one of the easiest. Run some along the gutter or roof line and you easily outline your building for a quick and great looking decoration that all can enjoy. Icicle lights come in a variety of colors and bulb counts. The most common bulb counts are 100 and 150, we do offer a 300 pack, but it's just two 150's packaged together. They come in both white wire and green and have a small selection of bulb colors available.

Those of course are just the classic, no frills lights. We are beginning to carry some new and interesting icicle strings, we have some strings that morph from one color into another. We have some strings that have a simulated dripping effect. We have some Commercial Icicle lights that are tough, heavy duty rubber coated wire, can connect up to 10 sets together, and so on. The most different light string is of course are our LED Icicle lights. If you have ever read any of our blog entries you surely know that we are crazy about LED, these strings are no exception. They have strange bulb counts (70 lights and 105 lights) but all the great colors and advantages of LED.

In the same family but for different application, Curtain lights are constructed in the same general way as icicles but have different type drops. Curtain lights have drops that are all the same length, hence the name. They are great for using along walls or entrances. These are popular year around, but during the spring/summer they are used a lot for weddings. A good 75% of all curtain lights sold during the off seasons are for wedding uses. Our standard curtain light string is constructed just like icicle lights, simple, easy to use and maintain. If you need something a little bit tougher our commercial curtain lights (or Wall of Light) is a great alternative. Our wall of light is a tough, heavy duty light string. It has a main power cord that runs along the top, and each drop has a special screw in adapter that allows you to choose where you want your drops. You have more control over you string of lights, and that's always a good thing.

I hope you've gotten a little better understanding of icicle and curtain light strings. Both are easy to use strings that look great for more than just Christmas lighting. Visit our Icicle Page to view all the products we carry.

--
Zach Broyles
All American Christmas Co.