Posts tagged Lighting

by eclecticlibrarian

Outdoor Christmas Lighting | Outdoor Christmas Lighting Ideas

What’s Christmastime without a bit of decorative lighting sprinkled everywhere? Ah, the houses have to be bright enough for Santa Claus to maneuver his sleigh in the nighttime sky to the right houses and shove himself into the chimney, all laden with gifts! But, keeping Santa aside, the lights bring on a festive charm like nothing else can. Outdoor Christmas lights proclaim to all passers-by that you are celebrating the joy of the season. Your lights must definitely match this feeling of joy.Christmas lights come in several different forms, and you will really be confounded if you visit a store selling these lights. There are the basic round colored bulbs that have been used traditionally, but then there are many fancy shapes available nowadays. This year’s favorites seem to be the pearly bulbs, which are actually shaped round like pearls and given a glossy sheen on their outward surface to make them seem more so. Heart shaped bulbs are still present, and you will also find more thematic Christmas lights such as those shaped in the form of icicles, candies, and even holly and mistletoe!Now you have to select how much length of bulb strings you will require. Do not be a Scrooge about buying these bulb strings, especially since you are going to light up the entire exterior of your house, which includes the bushes and the brambles. Bulb strings are nonperishable, so you can stock them in your loft or attic and use them the next year too. You may even experiment with the same bulbs to give a wholly different look to the decoration. Anyways, you will be requiring adequate length to at least cover the front side of your house twice over. Add a few feet of bulb string to cover up for those unavoidable folds and knots you might have to make. If you are dressing up the bushes with outdoor Christmas lights too, then take good-sized length, because bushes have an undesirable habit of camouflaging most of the decorative lights.You can also get cute little lights for your crib. These are the LED Christmas lights, and they come in several different colors. A favorite is to line up the surface of the crib table with a string of LED Christmas lights. You can even add a router to the string to make these lights blink on and off. LED Christmas lights can also be put on the barks of your outdoor trees and can be lined around your flowerpots outside the house. You will, of course, need a wireman to put up the electric points for you outside the house. You can do the setting up of the light strings yourself later on (that’s the creative part anyways), but let the wireman pull out a line from inside the house and provide you with the connection. This is necessary, or you might have to spend Christmastime with a hairstyle resembling that of a freshly plucked turkey. The best part is putting up the lights. You can have a whole family thing here, with each one contributing in their way. Even the kiddies can help in handing out stuff when you are perched atop the stool to put up the lights. One of the most traditional ways is to run the light string along the edges of the house, but no one says you cannot experiment. You can use the LED Christmas lights to write out small messages like ‘Season’s Greetings’ on an outdoor wall of the house. If you have a fence, try getting the new fashion pipe Christmas lights to work on the top portion of the fence. Pipe lights work wonders with picket fences. The Christmas tree holds center stage for the week leading up to Christmas and the week after it. A lot of effort and resources is expended in procuring just the right tree for your house. But the irony is that not many people know of the history behind the tree and its origins. The individual responsible for the Christmas tree was Queen Charlotte, the German-born wife of George III, the “Mad King”. On Christmas Day 1800, she held a party for the children of Windsor, the centerpiece of which was Britain’s first recorded Christmas tree, a yew decorated with sweetmeats, toys and candles. But it became something that seemed like it was the prerogative of only the Royals. It was Prince Albert who turned them into a national one by propagating it thorough the national newspaper.Decorations for the Christmas tree have evolved over the years. Initially the idea was to fill it with all kinds of ornaments and colorful items. Then came the lights. Ostentationism was well entrenched in the Christmas tree culture. Nowadays Christmas trees are used to depict a certain aspect of your life i.e. hobbies, moods, frame of mind etc. It denotes something that is positive and full of hope. A wedding or baby theme can reflect the events of the past year or the year ahead. Current interests, activities and family events can be a source of themes that will add to family memories when viewed in the photo albums in the future. The arrival of a baby can be a theme.A step – by – step approach is required when decorating the Christmas tree. The most important step is to decide on the type of tree itself. The tree is usually chosen after the buyer looks at the number of branches and the way that they are shaped. He has to feel good about the tree at the outset. If each layer of branch has a staggered appearance, the process of decoration is expedited. Most trees with a fresh cut will drink many quarts of water in the first few hours, so check the water level in your tree stand several times a day.A Wilt resistant spray that can be applied to trees before bringing them indoors that claims to keep needles fresh for several weeks. Before getting down to the task of decorating the tree it is advisable to decide on the kind of effect that needs to be achieved. Ideally two sets of lights can be used. The shorter set will spiral around the trunk of the tree from top to bottom, while the longer version will spiral around the branches.The color scheme must ensure that the tree has a minimalist but grand look to it. It would be ideal if a two color scheme was employed. It could be a green, choice between green, gold, purple and red. Place the main color on the tips of the branches and the secondary color deeper into the tree, giving depth to the display. However if the minimalist look is to be eschewed, then many ornaments can be used. At least dozen “filler” ornaments for every 2 feet of tree can be used. These can be inexpensive glass balls readily available at discount stores. There is no point decorating the back of the tree, as it will not be visible in any case. Strands of beads can be looped over the ends of the branches. If the beads have a glossy finish, it would be great as it would reflect the light all over the room.Finally at the top of the tree, the most important ornament must be added. This is something that symbolizes the spirit of Christmas, so it must be unique as well as elegant. Stars and angels have been some of the popular choices in the past. Now that the tree is made, there arises the problem of the tree stand. If the tree stand is visible it could spoil the entire display and take away the magic of the moment. It is imperative that the stand remains covered at all times.