The DU Lounge
Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsOn the tree - clear or colored lights?
we have colored on the shrubs outside, clear on the tree inside.
The old push in non-LED ones. The ones that go out and you try to fix them and replace fuses and replace bulbs - then just throw it away and buy a new set when they go on sale at CVS for practically nothing after the big day.
seabeyond
(110,159 posts)my hubby doesnt have the sense of uniform and classy. he does fine. nothing matches. colors everywhere. it is fun.
yodermon
(6,143 posts)Now at 37 the only thing lights I can stand are solid, clear lights. Hmm.
NRaleighLiberal
(60,004 posts)small colored screw in bulbs that blinked independently of each other. Was very cool - but just one set. On a (gasp!) white tree, with aqua and pink balls. yuck. Then again, when they got live trees, they were Charlie Brown specials - big bare spots everywhere.
Trees were not their thing.
Brickbat
(19,339 posts)2 percent.
NRaleighLiberal
(60,004 posts)guess who won?
seabeyond
(110,159 posts)ordinary wheat.
that is funny. compromise. he gets one, i get two. i think real butter in moderation is healthier than the margarine, anyway.
NRaleighLiberal
(60,004 posts)Brickbat
(19,339 posts)Mr. Brickbat always bought butter, and we use butter to this day, because really, life's short.
Oh, and I wanted colored lights, and he liked white lights. I switched to white because if he had his way, we wouldn't have a tree at all.
NRaleighLiberal
(60,004 posts)seabeyond
(110,159 posts)oh lordy, it has become gawdy. was laughing with a neighbor the other day. we copied shining lights on a tree with hanging flake and candy canes. started with YIPPY led lights, .... blue and white. that was a very hard mix for me to get behind. then every year started buying different types of lights that dont work together, cause they were neat.
finally this year he says, want to copy neighbor shining light on three. neighbor, classy white light. he asks what color...
with i say, red and green. lol.
it is a mess
and he loves it.
seabeyond
(110,159 posts)makes for a much more peaceful marriage.
Xithras
(16,191 posts)I was raised on skim, and Mrs. X on 2%. She had to buy both kinds for YEARS because I refused to surrender. Eventually she gave in and just started drinking skim
Brickbat
(19,339 posts)Liberal Veteran
(22,239 posts)HopeHoops
(47,675 posts)Really fucks with the cats' heads.
snacker
(3,619 posts)white lights outside and colored lights on the tree.
HappyMe
(20,277 posts)TwilightGardener
(46,416 posts)zanana1
(6,100 posts)Big, bright and blinking.
Xithras
(16,191 posts)Two strands of clear lights, accented by a single strand of purple lights. The rest of the tree is done in purple and silver decorations. It's quite pretty
We usually pick a new color theme every other year, and this is the first year for this theme. The last two years we did colored lights, but with all white and silver decorations. Again, it was very pretty.
But no blinkers. NEVER blinkers. Blinking lights are annoying and cheesy.
FourScore
(9,704 posts)bluedave
(366 posts)no lights,no anything.
woodsprite
(11,900 posts)We used to alternate each year, but when we got our new artificial tree we bought it with clear lights. With the lights and the 'realistic branches', that thing is heavy as lead.
My favorite strands of lights we had were ones where every other one stayed on, but the others would blink at different speeds as they warmed up. Could never find any more of those though.
Outdoors, we wanted to do our red maple in red lights this year, with clear lights around our door. Well, I have a shopping bag of red lights, but I hadn't realized how close the darned red maple was to a drop off on our hill. You can only stand on one side to wrap the lights around, and I'm not sure that will work well enough to look decent since you can only reach so far. That's a project for this weekend.
IcyPeas
(21,834 posts)seems like everyone is doing the clear lights nowadays. I will stay with color. seems traditional to me.
Safetykitten
(5,162 posts)NRaleighLiberal
(60,004 posts)the old ones rocked - we got a set some years ago that were made far too 'safe'!
sibelian
(7,804 posts)TBF
(31,999 posts)but we decided next year we are going with gold lights everywhere for consistency.
I still buy both margarine and butter - in 10+ years we have never been able to compromise on that. I will not give up real butter - god knows what they put in margarine.
dajoki
(10,678 posts)white lights outside and colored ones on the tree.
hedgehog
(36,286 posts)Colored lights, white lights, bubble lights and some blinkies! Tinsel, tinsel garland, bead garland, birds, glass balls, glass animals, Star trek ornaments, some from the kids, etc, etc with a Santa Claus topper.
What I really love are the outdoor strands I see with red, green and yellow (or is it red, green and white?)
I have searched and searched and all I can find are strings of a single color or 4 or 5 colors. I tried one year to arrange myonw string of red/green/white, but I couldn't get it to light after replacing so many bulbs!
pitohui
(20,564 posts)i want my xmas tree to look like my xmas tree not like a one of those restuarants with a number in its name
when clear/white lights were new and fresh i loved them but it's 15 years on and clear/white lights are old and tired and we will leave them to the capitalists who are trying to "tastefully" sell me something
NRaleighLiberal
(60,004 posts)May have to do the switch next year! (FWIW, we are adamantly anti-ads - we sit with the mute button when we watch TV and stopped going to movies due to the pre-movie ads!)
trackfan
(3,650 posts)Colored are classic.
clyrc
(2,299 posts)For years and years my mom has used clear lights, and they are pretty, but I love the colored lights of my childhood.
NRaleighLiberal
(60,004 posts)And even the slightly smaller C7s that ended up on the tree. But boy, did they get hot - had a lot of burned fingers!
MiddleFingerMom
(25,163 posts).
.
.
The tree was always natural (as kids, we'd go out and cut one
down in Michigan) and they used just regular sized BLUE lights --
VERY beautiful and dramatic in a dark room.
.
.
I used to buy them a motion-activated bird-call every year or
two and visitors would go nuts trying to find that "fearless"
bird hiding in a shrub near the front door.
.
.
.
.
freshwest
(53,661 posts)JCMach1
(27,553 posts)I don't think you get these in the States yet... We also have some of the superbright colored ones (blue). You might have the superbright ones now.
on edit, maybe you do have the matte ones http://www.amazon.com/Linkable-Changing-LED-Christmas-Lights/dp/B004981K8K/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1323841405&sr=8-6
saras
(6,670 posts)Chan790
(20,176 posts)so I can go super-traditional with a handful of mirrored glass balls, a string of garland and real plain white candles.
It's beautiful. There's only 12 candles and I only light them when I'm staying in the room.
lazarus
(27,383 posts)although I'm buying some old school bubble lights this weekend from Vermont Country Store. My grandmother had some when I was but a wee lad.
GoCubsGo
(32,070 posts)But, I like themed trees with mono-colored lights, too.