18 November 2010

Christmas lights - the good, the bad and the ugly.

| carnardly
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Hi all

I’ve always had a very modest display of lights around christmas time – the odd rope light and a few fairy lights and flashing stars and santas in the windows. If I want to be totally tragic and kitch, but not as bad as the Griswald’s family christmas, does anyone have any advice as to new christmas lights etc

There are a range of shops that sell lights – from the Big W or Target type lights – or cheap Asian shops – or exclusive shops like the Christmas Warehouse. To me lights are lights, but is there any different in quality or longevity if you buy cheap dodgies or pay a bit more? While I could save my money and buy nothing, if I wanted to splurge slightly, what should I go for?

I’d like them to last a few years at least without falling apart at the first rain. (They will be pulled down after christmas of course, but i wouldn’t want something to spit and fizz first time a drop of rain hits it).

thanks for any comments.

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carnardly said :

does anyone happen to know whether a christmas warehouse type shop is open/will open this year? I know in the past they’ve set up for a few weeks before christmas somewhere in fyshwick.

I don’t think they had one last year, and they do not list a store in Canberra on their web site at the moment so I suspect the answer is no. However, they do have an online store and we have had no problems using that for our odd Christmas decoration fix.

carnardly said :

Or, oh for $1500…

http://www.allclassifieds.com.au/ac/ac0034?gcid=122981711

lol. 🙂 Too bad I don’t have anywhere near that kind of money.

That’s actually quite expensive. We bought someone’s light display and didn’t get much less than that and for half that amount! Although there are some good things there!!

James-T-Kirk12:53 pm 18 Nov 10

My neighbor two houses down got successfully sued because somebody tripped on his driveway as they were looking at lights on the street – Be VERY careful, and rope everything on your boundary off!

jmac – yup – know that trick – i have picked up my measley bits here and there after each christmas for the last few years…

Or, oh for $1500… http://www.allclassifieds.com.au/ac/ac0034?gcid=122981711 lol. 🙂 Too bad I don’t have anywhere near that kind of money.

Forget Christmas all together, love is over.

LEDs are definitely much better, they give a nicer ‘brighter’ light!

We have a mixture of lights from Bunnings, K-Mart and the cheap shops and they’re all the same, check the small print though, some boxes have pictures of the lights on the outside of a house but say they are for indoor use only!

And if i were you i would hold off this year if you can, we purchased most of our lights after the Christmas sales the last couple of years and they are so much cheaper, generally about 50% off.

carnardly – i haven’t seen any advertising for a Christmas warehouse this year, but there is a big one in Sydney if you wanted the drive?

does anyone happen to know whether a christmas warehouse type shop is open/will open this year? I know in the past they’ve set up for a few weeks before christmas somewhere in fyshwick.

I am probably sound totally tragic now! 🙂

One thing I found with the LED ones we got a few years ago is when they start to fail you can’t just replace it with a spare, but overall I agree they are better.

BTW think before you take children in to the Bredbo Christmas shop, my wife stopped there a few weeks ago, she drilled the kids about not touching, you know the whole ‘look with your eyes not with your hands’.

Part way through shopping my son (4 year old) went to reach for something my wife started to tell him not to and the shopkeeper (owner?)called out ‘he’s touching stuff’, not nastily but not nicely either. My wife allowed each of our kids to pick out a new decoration to buy, and the oldest 2 (11yrs) we carrying theirs and unlike the the youngest had wandered slightly away, this time he lady practically pounced on one of them demanding to know why she was touching it, the child was a bit stunned and my wife had to call out she was buying it.

Please note I was not there and am only relating the story, and it didn’t stop her spending a fortune.

Led? thanks guys. will remember that when I go shopping.

I think most lights you pick up should be ok. They should all meet Aus. standards and if you take care of them and dont leave them out too long or get them tangled they should be fine. There is a place in Braidwood thats sells Christmas decorations. They might have something a bit different.

^^ LED is the way to go.

LED Christmas lights, no bulbs to be replaced or heat generated in turn less power consumed. You will pay more for them up front but in the long run money saved in power and replacement lights will be well worth it.

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