Showing posts with label Christmas Lights. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christmas Lights. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

DIY Tinsel Wreath

Tinsel and fairly lights turned into a holiday wreath. It doesn't get more festive than that. This very simple and inexpensive DIY project will be a great addition to your holiday decor. 

All you are going to need is some tinsel in the color of your choice and battery LED lights to match, masking tape and a foam wreath. Some of these item might even be laying around from some old decorations that don't get used anymore. 

Lay down your foam wreath and decide where you want the lights to start and end. The ending point will need to be in the back at either the top or the bottom, to keep it hidden and secure. Start taping your lights down and continue to wrap them all the way around the wreath, taping as you go. 

Next you can start wrapping your tinsel around the wreath, starting where you started your  battery light string. Be sure to adjust your lights as you wrap your tinsel so they aren't hidden. 

Secure your tinsel and use the excess to hang it up on your door at the desired length. Then turn your lights on and enjoy. 

--
Hannah
All American Christmas Co. 

Thursday, August 1, 2013

Choosing the Right Christmas Light Clips

The holidays will be here before we know it and it will be time to hang those lights again. We know that is only August and it might be a little early to start thinking about your holiday decorations, but you can never be too prepared. Hanging Christmas lights on your roof and windows can be time consuming and frustrating. Especially, being at the top of a ladder and just barley being able to reach that last light to get it just right. Why not try to hang your lights like the professionals by choosing just the right Christmas light clips for your decorating project. Let us give you a few tips for choosing.

Clips for C7 and C9 Lights

A lot of people like the look of a traditional C7 or C9 Christmas light bulb for their home holiday decor. If this is your choice of bulb you will need a clip that can hold a the larger bulb and to set the light in the direction you choose. The best clip for this application is an all application light clip because it can be on gutters, shingles, allows bulbs to  be hung in different directions on gutters or shingles and has folding tabs for a tight grip.Use one clip per bulb for a clean and straight roof line.

Hanging Lights on Shingles

A shingled roof can present a unique problem if you do not have the right clips to hang your lights. Shingle tabs will easily slide neatly right under your roofing shingles. They will stand upright to perfectly display your lights and will not damage your shingles. 


Clips for Icicle Lights

Icicle lights are a traditional look for the holidays. It always puts me in the holiday spirit when i see people in our town putting up there icicle lights. You have to be sure when you hang them that they are hung properly with the right clips, that way they look their best. Multi application clips will work perfectly for this application. These clips will hook onto gutters in a traditional horizontal position, where the icicle wire will run along the bottom of the gutter without sagging. These clips can also hold mini lights, C7 and C9 light strings, which allows you to hang your regular Christmas lights at the same time from the same clip. This will save space, time and give you a layered look. 

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Brown Wire Christmas Lights

Brown Wire Mini Lights
"Our Brown Wire Craft Mini Lights"
All American Christmas Co. is proud to carry a selection of Brown Wire Mini Christmas Lights!

Brown wire mini lights are a fairly popular light string for those that know about them, they are easy to integrate in to many designs and they don't look too "Christmasy" so they are great for using other times of the year. You can incorporate brown wire christmas lights into indoor and outdoor decorations, they hide easily against trees for lighting parties or weddings, and look great lighting for other holidays like thanksgiving.

Our newest member of the family is our Brown Wire Craft Lights sets, these sets feature Brown wire, 20 clear mini lights 6 volt lamps, Approx. 3.5 inch bulb spacing, 24" lead wire, and only one plug. These sets are just like many of the other 20 light sets we carry and since they only have the one plug they are perfect for crafts such as lighting glass blocks or wine bottles.

In addition to our brown wire craft lights in 20 count we also carry the same type of set in a 50 and 100 light count option. These sets are spaced closer to 4 inches apart and can be strung end to end. These are the sets you'd want to go with if you are needing to do long runs of lights and again they are great indoors and out.  We also offer these larger sets in case lots so you can buy multiples and save in the long run!

If you are interested in our brown wire light strings please Click Here to check out what we offer on the site. Be warned that we only have around 100 of the 20 count sets in Brown wire. Our 20 light sets are some of the most popular light strings we carry and these are bound to sell out before we get our new stock for 2012 so order early to insure you'll have them when no one else will!

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

Monday, February 6, 2012

Lighting your house like Clark Griswold

"250 Strands of light.... 100 individual bulbs per strand.... for a grand total of 25,000 imported Italian twinkle lights!" That's the supposed number of lights Clark used on his house for the 1989 classic Christmas movie. If memory serves me, most of the lights that Clark was using were in the C9 variety, although in the scene where he gives Rusty the knot of Christmas lights to untangle there where mostly C9 bulbs but some C7 bulbs were mixed into the bunch. He's not using Mini Christmas lights even though he said "Italian lights" which are commonly associated with the small mini lights found on Christmas trees. 

If there were indeed 25,000 lights consisting of mainly C9 bulbs then the lights on the Griswold house would be using 175,000 watts! Using that type of power would drive up anyones electricity bill to a astronomical price, it would make you probably save a Christmas bonus and not blow it on a swimming pool.

For the modern Griswold family, or Griswold wannabes, you'll probably want to go with a LED type bulbs or set. But still using the incredibly large number of LED Christmas lights you'll be pulling major power! The most important thing is don't overload your outlets or your wire, you need to know many amps a circuit can handle. Large scale lighting projects require a ton of amperage, for instance Clark would need 1,590 amps to power the massive number of lights! When it comes to overloading wire, most 18 gauge wire will fail after you pass 7 amps through it, once you begin to get close to that 7 amp limit you'll need to start a new line with a brand new power source.

There are so many things you have to take into consideration when you start any large scale lighting project, always be safe, have someone helping you when you work on a pitched roof, and do the math on power before you commit to large scale!

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

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

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

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.

Friday, January 6, 2012

Christmas Light Sale

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!

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

Monday, December 5, 2011

All American Christmas Co Coupon & Sale!

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

Monday, October 24, 2011

How to repair Mini Christmas lights

We get a ton of questions asking if we can or know how to fix Mini 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.
  1. 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.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. 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:
  1. Plug machine into any standard 110-120-volt circuit.

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

  3. 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).

  4. 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.

  5. 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.

  6. 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.

  7. 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

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

Monday, June 9, 2008

Mini Lights

Christmas Mini Lights have been and will continue to be one of the most popular Christmas lights strings available. They are a simple, relatively hassle free light string that comes in the same variety of colors that makes large bulbs so popular. Our Miniature Christmas lights come in a variety of spacings; 2.5 Inch Spacing, 4 Inch Spacing, 6 Inch Spacing, and 8 Inch Spacing are standard. There is also a large selection of bulb counts for different strings. All spacings come in 50 bulbs and 100 bulb per string sets, but the 4 inch spacing sets come in 15 light, 20 light, and 35 light.

The smaller mini light strings have been gaining a huge following in the craft market. The trend of lighting glass blocks and emptied wine bottles is becoming more and more popular, using 20 or 35 light count, a glass drill bit, and a little ingenuity can lead some nice looking results. These smaller bulb count strings generally do not have any sort of end plug, we call them NEC sets ( No End Connector sets) and they are probably our most popular light string.

At the complete opposite end of the spectrum our Commercial 6 Inch spaced lights are the toughest and longest mini light sets we carry. Unlike most other mini lights these sets allow you to connect 6 sets end to end, these sets allow for LONG decorating runs without having to worry about extension cords. Generally standard mini light sets only allow for 3 sets to be plugged end to end.

Many of the past problems that plague mini light users have been remedied. In the not so distant past when a bulb would burn out it would usually kill half the string. Current production strings have a simple fix, a shunt. If a bulb is shunted then it has a small piece of wire wrapped around the filament leads, if the filament burns out the shunt continues the flow of electricity through the bulb. This simple little strand of wire keeps burnt out bulbs from killing half of your light strings. Now, if a bulb is loose or twisted then generally it will also kill the string. Usually this can be fixed by a light push on the top of the bulb if it's just loose, for twisted bulbs you have really inspect each bulb.

I hope this blog has given you a little insight into the world of Mini Lights, please visit our mini light page to view our selection.

Christmas Mini Lights Product Page