DIY Christmas Lights extension cords...

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

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...

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

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!

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