Light Your Patio With Patio Lights

Lighting up your patio or outdoor living space can really increase the appeal of your backyard. Just use some bistro lighting to create a fun and inviting outdoor area. With summer coming you are going to want to spend more time in these outdoor spaces, socializing and enjoying cool summer evenings. Luckily we are here to help find the perfect patio lighting that will meet your needs.

Globe Lights will Hang Like Stars in the Night Sky

Try using Patio lights to brighten your patio area, creating a sparkling night sky effect or use bright colors for summery party lights. Spring and Summer patio lighting ideas might include, wedding celebrations,  graduations, summer holidays, and birthdays. Try using them along decks and overhangs, between trees and other natural landscapes and even from wall to wall. 

Choose your bulbs, globe lights come in a variety of sizes and colors. After you have chosen your bulbs, decide on your stringer. These are available in white or green and have many lengths and socket spacing. Choosing the right one for you is just a  matter of decorating taste. 

• Colors include: 
• Clear
• Pearl White
• Satin Multi - Red, Blue, Green, Pink and Orange

• Sizes Include:
• G30 (C7 and C9 Base)- 1 1/8" Diameter
• G40 (C7 and C9 Base)- 1 1/2" Diameter
• G50 (C7 and C9 Base)- 2" Diameter

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Hannah

All American Christmas Co. 

Uses for Rope Light

The flexibility you have when using rope light in home lighting projects are endless. Rope light is one of the easiest lights to incorporate to your decor because there are not many wires to tuck away. Just be sure to measure your light properly. Here are some uses and tips for installing your flex light.

Under Kitchen Cabinets - This is great for a soft or indirect glow under your cabinets. It will also be helpful to have a little extra light shining on your counter tops. To attach these to the cabinets, you can find hooks that will screw right into the cabinets, quick and easy to install and remove.

Transform Trees - Wrap the trunk of your trees in the backyard. It would be easiest to wrap and work with the smaller trees. This will add a little ambient lighting for your outdoor events and parties.

Decorate Your Deck - Wrap rope lighting around the hand rail and deck posts of your deck. Great  for summer
entertaining and just to relax outside on your own deck.

Light Your Path - Line your walkway with flex lighting. This will be simple and great for you or your guests that will be coming and going in the evening.


Now that you have a few ideas on how to use your flex light, let me give you a few tips on how to measure correctly.

Use Twine - Using twine is the easiest way to accurately measure your area for lighting. It is very inexpensive and easy to get around tight and unusual places. Start by securing the twine close to where you want to begin your outline.

Make an Outline - Run it around the perimeter of where you want to use your flex light. Make sure to attach it to key angles, likes corners.

Measure - When you've completed the outline, cut off the piece of twine. Measure with a tape measure, the length of lighting you will need for the project.

Leave Some Slack - Remember to leave about 15% in excess. You want to be absolutely sure that you have to correct amount and only have to cut once.

This can be a really fun project to add a little jazz to different spaces. Try using it in your home or for your next party. Everyone will love the new and unique ideas you can come up with.

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Hannah
All American Christmas Co.

Creating custom Curtain Lights for Weddings

Curtain Lights

One of our most popular blogs is on using curtain lights, the most popular trends in recent memory for weddings and receptions is to use incandescent curtain lights behind some sort of tulle or sheer fabric, this creates a subtle glow and effect that is a great backdrop for any event. Sadly our white wire 150 count curtain lights we have on www.aachristmas.com are sold out until later in the year, and while we do have our commercial curtain lights which are very heavy duty this blog will focus on creating your own custom curtain lights!

To build your own curtain lights you need some male & female plugs, 18 gauge wire, and some mini light strings.

In a nutshell you have to use the wire and plugs to create a long "power strip" you have to measure the plugs out in the spacing you want to go with for the curtain drops, we recommend staying with 6" or 12" to keep it easy to do the footage calculations in your head. You have to modify the female plugs that go in line by cutting out one side of the plug. Click here to view how to modify plugs.  Many companies sell a premade curtain light string that is just a long power strip that you can plug mini light strings into. Be aware of the distance you need to cover before you tackle any project.

When it comes to choosing the right mini light strings for the curtain lights you need to know how tall the lights need to hang down, most customers need around 10 feet of lighted length ( 2.5" spaced 50 count Mini lights work well for this) but depending on your application you'd really need to take a look at the 50 count Mini light strings we offer to find a good match, or maybe even 100 counts if you need TALL curtains.  After you make your power string you simply plug in the light strings and you'll have your very own custom curtain light strings.

Simple Diagram of how to layout Custom Curtain lights

It's good to always have some zip ties on hand to keep any long or extra wire wrapped up and keep things uniform.

Visit http://www.aachristmas.com/vpasp/mini-lights.asp For light strings
Visit http://www.aachristmas.com/vpasp/electrical_supplies.html for Wire and Plugs

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Zach Broyles

Concerning out of stock items

The 3 red words no one wants to see OUT OF STOCK! We try our best to keep our site as up to date as possible and 99.99999% of anything that says out of stock is, now we get questions as to when products will be back in and this varies depending on the item. During the earlier part of the year most items that say they are out wont be back in until late summer/early fall.

We will update the site as soon as we get them back in (as well as the blog, facebook, etc). Our smaller Curtain Lights on White wire and Shorter Lead 20 count craft lights are by far our most requested items that are out of stock. We do however carry Commercial Curtain Lights and different 20 count Craft lights. Bookmark our site, like us on Facebook, and check the blog regularly for all All American Christmas Co. updates!

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Zach

All About Mini Lights

Green Wire Clear Mini Lights

Mini Lights

Mini lights, the small glass bulbs Christmas lights that adorn houses, businesses, restaurants all over the country. These have become a staple in decorating and while they are definitely still commonly referred to as "Christmas Lights" they are in no way just for the holiday season. In 2013 All American Christmas Co. plans to tighten the screws on our Mini Lights and try to simplify the staggering amount of choices there are. 

Differences to consider when choosing Mini Lights

There are a handful of differences between Mini Christmas light strings and if you're not well informed subtle things can dramatically change how you'll have to approach lighting a project. Use the info below to give you a little insight on how to use Mini christmas lights

• Bulb Spacing - This is the distance from bulb to bulb. This detail should come with the largest caveat, spacings are almost never exact and should be taken as approximations. The wire between the bulbs can often be cut at different lengths that will give slightly different spacings. The most common factory spacings are 2.5", 4", & 6" but like I mentioned before the variance in construction can take spacings from 2" to 3" and 4.5" to 5.5" just depends on the production runs. All American Christmas Co. tries to offer the most accurate spacing measurements possible.
• Bulb Count - This one is pretty easy, just the count of bulbs on a light string. There is a varying amount of options for some counts on the spacings and what not but for the most part this is pretty self explanatory.  The number of bulbs on a string range from 10, 15, 20, 35, 50, 100, and 150. The most common counts are 50 and 100, with the majority of bulb spacings being available for those two counts.
• Lead Wire - A "Lead" is the length of wire from the male plug of a light string to the first bulb. This amount of wire can vary depending on the manufacturer with some sets having short leads that are close to the spacing of the set itself and some sets have long leads which easy in decorating with a sing string. Most lead wires are shorter on longer sets and longer on shorter sets.
• Lighted Length - Lighted length refers to the footage from the first bulb to last bulb. This can vary depending on the spacing of the bulbs themselves and the lighted length is pretty easily calculated. Simple take the Total number of bulbs minus one multiply by the spacing (in inches) and then divide by 12 this will give the total footage. Example: (100-1) x 4" = 396" , 396"/ 12 = 33 feet
• Bulb Voltage  - Mini light bulbs are not universal, if you've ever tried to replace mini light bulbs with bulb voltages that aren't the same you'll notice certain bulbs will burn hotter and inevitably will burn out faster. The most common voltage 2.5 volt and are 50 & 100 bulb count strings. As the bulb count drops the voltage goes up, 35 count have 3.5 volt, 20 count have 6 volt, 15 count have 8 volt, and 10 count and have 12 volt. 

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Zach