Need the Perfect Father's Day Gift? Try this Christmas Decorating Toolbox

Father's Day gift giving can be stressful if your dad is difficult to shop for. Maybe you have tried clothes or grilling accessories in the past only to get a "ho hum" reaction. If you have a dad that decorates for Christmas and is a proud do it yourselfer looking for gadgets to make decorating easier or his display more exciting, why not create a Christmas toolbox as this year's gift?
Here is a run down of some must have items for your father's day stockpile:

• A Christmas light tester is a handy tool to have when your dad first pulls the lights out of storage. Save hours of frustration in finding dead bulbs or loose connections with this simple light tester
• Order a collection of rope light splice connectors for the Christmas light toolbox. If your dad spends any time cutting rope light or creating his own rope light silhouettes, he will definitely need a variety of splice connectors close at hand. 
• While you are at it, pick up some crocodile clips for dad's rope light displays. These clips are so useful for holding custom shapes for rope lights. Don't leave dad fumbling for twist ties or rubber bands, provide him with easy-to-use crocodile clips.
• Make a subtle suggestion to your father this year and encourage him to express his creativity come Christmas time. Help him turn his mini lights and net lights into a dazzling display with a chasing Christmas light controller. The controller will liven up any strand of mini lights with five chasing programs from which to choose
• As any father can attest to, finding yourself up on a roof or on a ladder without any light clips nearby can be frustrating. Choose from our huge selection of light clips and hangers to round out the Christmas toolbox. Make an oath to dad that he will always have enough light clips for the holidays
• Finally, no toolbox is complete without replacement bulbs. All the planning, testing, and hanging of Christmas lights cannot guarantee that every C7 bulb will glow. Which is why having an assortment of replacement bulbs on hand will assure that every light will glow next Christmas

Your father will appreciate the time and thought you put into his father's day gift this year. The complete Christmas decorator's toolbox will come in handy when the calendar changes to winter and thoughts turn to decorating the house. As an extra gift, you can always direct your dad to our resource pages to help him put the toolbox to great use.

I'm Not Afraid of the Dark...I Just Like Christmas Lights

If you are tired of buying standard night lights to help your kids fight the things that go bump in the night, battery-operated Christmas lights are the perfect solution. Night lights can be too bright, do not come in designs you like, or you simply want something a little more playful than a night light. Your daughter may like battery operated fairy lights hanging on her headboard or from a curtain. Little girls and fairies go together like Christmas and trees, so fairy lights could do wonders to help fight off the monsters in the closet.

Other options are to hang some LED battery powered lights around a dresser, closet door, or chair. Or, if you are more industrious, hang them from the ceiling and pretend they are stars. Whatever it takes to calm your kids and make it fun to fall asleep. You can even have a set or two in strategic places around the house where your kids may walk to get to the bathroom or to a glass of water. Wrap some battery powered lights around a door handle or along the floor where there is no worry of them being crushed.

Are You a Rope Light Addict?

When I hear party decorations, I automatically think Christmas lights. I am not talking gaudy displays that have people wondering about y sanity. I am talking accent lighting that adds something different.

Now, I have to admit, I am addicted to rope lights. Here is an example. My son was having a few of his little friends over for a party. He mentioned that it would be cool to have a spaceship party. Who am I to say no? My mind drifted to rope lighting and effects to transform my basement into a spaceship. That idea, a collection of LED rope lights in white, blue, and red, and animated rope light controllers were all I needed.

With the help of some rope light clips, I laid out the lights across the ceiling of my basement in alternating rows of of the colored LED rope lights. I alternate the lights so I can have them fade or sequence using my rope light controllers. I then placed white rope lights along the floor to act as an entrance path to the ship. Once that was setup, I utilized some tables, desks and chairs already in the basement by wrapping rope lights around them to simulate a captain's chair, a lighted control panel to fly the ship, and a few random mini control panels for my son's co-pilots.

After all the rope lighting was set up, I hooked them to the light controllers, turned off all non-rope lighting, and invited the family down for a brief show. The fading and random blinking of the rope lights (with a little imagination) turned my basement into a spaceship which was ready for its mission. It was all worth it when my son came in and begged me to do the same to his room. While I was more than willing, my wife's glare said otherwise.

The party was a HUGE hit and a few parents came down to check out the rope light ship. While some thought it looked like a lot of work, one dad, in particular, seemed to understand. He said "I see I have met another rope light addict". Yes you have.

Christmas Lights Make for Perfect Graduation Party Ideas

May is the month where graduations begin to take place. College, university, and high school graduates around the country will have graduation parties thrown in their honor. In addition to the classic decorations such as a cap and gown centerpiece or a diploma cake, why not brighten the day with some mini or LED Christmas lights?

The premium mini lights at Christmas Lights Etc. can provide a great theme for the grad. The variety of colors of these Christmas lights gives you the option of matching the colors to the graduate’s school colors. For example, if the graduate’s school colors are green and yellow, our green and yellow mini lights can be arranged to honor the school by surrounding the cake, decorating a window, or as simple accents throughout the house or hall at which you are having the party. Decorating a cutout or picture of the school mascot with the colored mini lights is another way to pay tribute to your graduate.

Our battery-powered Christmas lights are a unique car decoration if you are driving to a college graduation with family or friends. The drive can take hours or minutes, whatever the case, affix some battery-powered Christmas lights to your car perhaps by writing the graduates name, the name of the school’s team, or by just outlining the car windows. If you are the graduate, the battery powered Christmas lights in school colors can be used on your cap or beneath your gown. That way your family will know exactly where you are throughout the graduation ceremony.

A great graduation gift for a recent college grad is their first Christmas tree. Now we know you may feel awkward giving an artificial tree as a gift (especially in May) but, if the graduate is heading off on their own for the first time, in December they will be thanking you for your gift. The last thing a twenty something thinks of with their new place is how they will decorate for Christmas. Find the perfect tree with our Christmas tree finder, wrap a few ornaments to start their own collection, and a few sets of LED Christmas lights. They will have the memory of that gift in their minds every year as they decorate their tree. That memory will come with the warmth and caring of a family or friend that thought enough to get them a unique graduation gift of their  first Christmas tree.