| The Static Years... |
2002
2003
For my second year, I decided to not be quite so grandiose. I made smaller
standees of the Thomas the Tank Engine characters. They were a big hit.
Unfortunately, my son loved them so much, they became wall hangings in his
room. Lesson of the year: Freehand painting is for the birds! I used carbon
paper to transfer the images. I also found cement stakes. Heavy iron stakes
with holes predrilled in them. You can find these at Home Depot and they will
support your standees even on those high wind days. I also added snowflakes
to the stakes and replace the old wooden lollipops. The icicle lights were still
messy but the snowflakes looked great.
standees of the Thomas the Tank Engine characters. They were a big hit.
Unfortunately, my son loved them so much, they became wall hangings in his
room. Lesson of the year: Freehand painting is for the birds! I used carbon
paper to transfer the images. I also found cement stakes. Heavy iron stakes
with holes predrilled in them. You can find these at Home Depot and they will
support your standees even on those high wind days. I also added snowflakes
to the stakes and replace the old wooden lollipops. The icicle lights were still
messy but the snowflakes looked great.
2004
Since I no longer had the Thomas
standees I had to make new ones.
These were pretty generic christmasy
looking displays that my wife did not
particularly care for. The other new
element this year was not so much new
but refurbished. I can remember the
NOEL sign on top of my house from
back when I was a teen. It was really
showing it’s age. I ripped off all of the
old lights and replace them with rope
light. It looked much neater.
standees I had to make new ones.
These were pretty generic christmasy
looking displays that my wife did not
particularly care for. The other new
element this year was not so much new
but refurbished. I can remember the
NOEL sign on top of my house from
back when I was a teen. It was really
showing it’s age. I ripped off all of the
old lights and replace them with rope
light. It looked much neater.
2005
By 2005 I had really begun refining my look. For the first
time I was happy with my barricade. The twinkling arches
had a much cleaner look than the old icicles. I added an
arch to the pathway which looked very finished and added a
much needed practicality to the display. I was able to run
an extension cord over the arch which gave me one more
set of outlets to play with. On the second picture you will
see the last picture of the Modesto Ash. Each year it
leaned over a bit more and finally a UPS truck slammed into
it. The resulting fallout was that the city of Ceres came out
and turned it into mulch.
time I was happy with my barricade. The twinkling arches
had a much cleaner look than the old icicles. I added an
arch to the pathway which looked very finished and added a
much needed practicality to the display. I was able to run
an extension cord over the arch which gave me one more
set of outlets to play with. On the second picture you will
see the last picture of the Modesto Ash. Each year it
leaned over a bit more and finally a UPS truck slammed into
it. The resulting fallout was that the city of Ceres came out
and turned it into mulch.
2006
This year I added the Disney Characters to the display. I will never go back to standees. The Characters were topiary
frames bought from Disney and stuffed with garland. Then wrapped with hundreds of mini-lights. I loved this addition to
the décor, but goofed when I removed much of the color from the rest of the display. As a result the house was a bit
bland. I would soon find a way to rectify that though. On a trip around Modesto to see what others were doing with their
lights I found three houses, whose houses were simply strung together with a few lights that pulsed to the beat of music.
I was hooked! I would spend the rest of the night looking on the internet to determine how the synchronization was
done. As a result my Christmas displays would never be the same again.
frames bought from Disney and stuffed with garland. Then wrapped with hundreds of mini-lights. I loved this addition to
the décor, but goofed when I removed much of the color from the rest of the display. As a result the house was a bit
bland. I would soon find a way to rectify that though. On a trip around Modesto to see what others were doing with their
lights I found three houses, whose houses were simply strung together with a few lights that pulsed to the beat of music.
I was hooked! I would spend the rest of the night looking on the internet to determine how the synchronization was
done. As a result my Christmas displays would never be the same again.
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2002 was our first year on Christmas Tree
Lane. I was thinking BIG. Lifesized displays
and motorization. Unfortunately, my large
displays blocked the house which did not make
my wife happy, so they sat off to the side of the
yard. The motorization also was a hassle and I
quickly learned that I really didn’t want to do
that next year. Lesson of the year: One of my
neighbors came over and told me that I would
want to keep people off my lawn and that I
should build a barricade. I had some old
wooden lollipops left over from a previous
owner which I pounded into the ground at
intervals, then I strung icicle lights between
them. Effective but very messy looking. On the
left of the second picture you can see our
Modesto Ash. It was gigantic! I had it wrapped
up to 14 feet which could be see all the way at
the end of the street!
Lane. I was thinking BIG. Lifesized displays
and motorization. Unfortunately, my large
displays blocked the house which did not make
my wife happy, so they sat off to the side of the
yard. The motorization also was a hassle and I
quickly learned that I really didn’t want to do
that next year. Lesson of the year: One of my
neighbors came over and told me that I would
want to keep people off my lawn and that I
should build a barricade. I had some old
wooden lollipops left over from a previous
owner which I pounded into the ground at
intervals, then I strung icicle lights between
them. Effective but very messy looking. On the
left of the second picture you can see our
Modesto Ash. It was gigantic! I had it wrapped
up to 14 feet which could be see all the way at
the end of the street!