Christmas Lights

[heyelander]

Has anyone ever successfully put lights back in their original box? RJEL wife has saved every box she has ever purchased and seems to think I'm being lazy that I can't get them stored properly. This is a lower ring of hell than folding fitted sheets.

[GwynnInTheHall]

Has anyone ever successfully put lights back in their original box? RJEL wife has saved every box she has ever purchased and seems to think I'm being lazy that I can't get them stored properly. This is a lower ring of hell than folding fitted sheets.

We keep ours on a spinner, works great

[chancellor]

We keep ours on a spinner, works great

This.

And you never, ever fold fitted sheets. Wash them and put them back on the bed.

[revo]

I've gotten my ass kicked by Xmas lights and inflatables every single year. It's crazy.

I finally tossed out two storage boxes of lights last month. Without fail, nearly all of them didn't work. To combat this, I even bought rope lights about 10 years ago -- and discovered this year that nearly all of THEM had some kind of outage within them. Threw them all out.

As far as my inflatables, three (of about 12) had broken fans and refused to start up. I even spliced together one from an old Motorola cell phone cord, and it worked for a little while. But two that I like (a Darth Vader and a TMNT) both didn't work.

I'm at my wits end with them. I spend so much money and get such little return. Meanwhile, my neighbor down the street has one of those Xmas Light Challenge houses, and has a place for cars to stop and admire his set up. Not a single light is out, and he has a whole choreographed light show. And I can't get one single fucking light string to stay working for more than a year.

[heyelander]

Sorry to trigger you.

[chancellor]

I've gotten my ass kicked by Xmas lights and inflatables every single year. It's crazy.

I finally tossed out two storage boxes of lights last month. Without fail, nearly all of them didn't work. To combat this, I even bought rope lights about 10 years ago -- and discovered this year that nearly all of THEM had some kind of outage within them. Threw them all out.

As far as my inflatables, three (of about 12) had broken fans and refused to start up. I even spliced together one from an old Motorola cell phone cord, and it worked for a little while. But two that I like (a Darth Vader and a TMNT) both didn't work.

I'm at my wits end with them. I spend so much money and get such little return. Meanwhile, my neighbor down the street and one of those Xmas Light Challenge houses, and has a place for cars to stop and admire his set up. Not a single light is out, and he has a whole choreographed light show. And I can't get one single fucking light string to stay working for more than a year.

This is the best post I've read in weeks.

[DMT]

Sorry to trigger you.

Zing!

[Gregg]

Has anyone ever successfully put lights back in their original box? RJEL wife has saved every box she has ever purchased and seems to think I'm being lazy that I can't get them stored properly. This is a lower ring of hell than folding fitted sheets.

I have put them back in their original box...once. I now roll them up back and forth and then put them in a several sturdy boxes. I have been doing this for years. It is easy and they do not break. I story them under the basement stairs with the ornaments.

[heyelander]

I saw this in a store and had it in hand, but didn't buy it. Now that I'm seeing it on amazon a good bit cheaper, I might.

https://www.amazon.com/Ulta-Lit-01201-Complete-Miniature/dp/B000R8KBOK/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=christmas+light+tester&qid=1609779202&sr=8-2

RJEL wife has some of those lighted reindeer that were her mothers that we bussed across country. The front half of one of them was out this year. I tried to figure out which bulb it was but couldn't identify it. I ended up pulling every out light (about 50) taking the bulb out of the base (which is old and unique) and replacing the bulbs with ones from a bad net lighting set. Was delighted when it worked after all that, but it still took like an hour, and I busted two bulbs in my living room trying to pull them from the old string. This tool and comments advertise that it can find the one (or more) individual blown bulbs and repair them.

[heyelander]

I have put them back in their original box...once. I now roll them up back and forth and then put them in a several sturdy boxes. I have been doing this for years. It is easy and they do not break. I story them under the basement stairs with the ornaments.

After I made this post I googled it and found a bunch of mommy blogger posts about how to do it right. Basically you have to fold them in your palm, alternating bulbs at the top and bottom of your hand. It took me about 10 minutes to do a set of 150 lights which is ridiculous, but I got them back in the box. I'm not sure if I will ever bother again though.

https://lifeyourway.net/quick-tip-packing-away-christmas-lights/

Annoying that the pictures in that can't be shared into another website.

[Ken]

Annoying that the pictures in that can't be shared into another website.

What do you mean? You can link to pictures from other places.

[heyelander]

What do you mean? You can link to pictures from other places.

yeah, as I was writing that, I thought I should change it to, "Annoying that I'm not bright enough to share a picture from that website here."

[Ken]

yeah, as I was writing that, I thought I should change it to, "Annoying that I'm not bright enough to share a picture from that website here."

Are they brighter when you fold them correctly?

[heyelander]

Are they brighter when you fold them correctly?

I can't tell, they are in their box now.

I am assuredly no brighter.