Here’s a question of monumental importance. When decorating your tree, do you use the small bulbs, or the more traditional size? How about blinking or no? One color, or many? I use the larger bulbs, and they are all multicolor flashers- so they all blink at random times. What say the rest of the TM?
Real candles.
Big multicoloured non-flashing bulbs on my outside tree.
Depends on my mood. If I’m being picky about these things (like I am this year), I’ll choose whatever matches the rest of the ornaments. I’ll use the all-white lights or all-red ones, or just plenty of the multicolored ones. If I’m not picky, I’ll use them all: the multicolored ones, the bubble lights, the blinking ones. It’s quite a spectacle when that happens. We don’t even need to have the living room lights on. 
Hubby and I recently came up with a compromise. We use all white (mini) lights on any decorating outside and inside that isn’t on the tree. On the official Christmas tree, we use (mini) colored lights. But most of the decorations on the tree are silver. I really don’t care for colored lights–much like I despise tinsel.
I would like to think that I have control over this process but every year I end up putting every light strand I own on the tree, a three year old 10’ ‘fake fir’ ornament hanger with 2020 tips. Last year I managed to fit in some orange Easter and halloween lights in addition to chile pepper lights and a couple 100’ mini color, lighting densely from the inside out. For the past two seasons I avoided all white lights because they burn out photos of the tree too badly. This year I am very late lighting the tree because we have a new kitten who might chew a wire. I tried to get away with a couple of well-placed spot floods but the /xmas comittee nixed that. I will light from the top down and skip the lower three rows of branches. I have been collecting lights for years, mini bulbs only inside (fire/melt hazard from larger). I just bought some new strings (heavy duty: 20 ga wire)of white lights for outside, and will retire all old light sets (maybe: unless I get possessed by the lighting bug, which may result in unsafe lighting: I need strength). I also bought some heavy duty colored lights for the tree which I will label with date purchased and vow to dispose of in three or four years. Lights are made cheaply these days, practically disposable. How many Christmases get ruined because of frayed wiring? Not as many as from space heaters and frayed extension cords but I live in an old wood house and try to remain cognizant of hazards.
We have 1,400 small white lights on our tree. They do not blink.
Ooooh, I love lots and lots of teeny, tiny lights - white or multi-colored. I wish they made sets of colors like lavendar and blue, but I’ve only seen white or multi.
BTW, I HATE those new “net” lights that go over bushes. They are too evenly spaced! Lights should be randomly spaced on the tree.
Oh, and don’t like those big, honky bulbs either. They remind me of Big Bob’s Xmas Tree Lot.
This years theme was mating reindeer but I couldn’t find any. So today I noticed the big stores have half off on lights, so I made a sort of shooting star.
BTW, I use big & small lights.
Have you been to Target this year (if they have them in your area)? They have strands of all lavendar and all blue–also just blue and white, just red and green, all red, etc.
We use lots of colors and sizes. Right now our tree has two cheesy strands from the 70s (when I was a kid), complete with fuzzy bulbs, as well as chile peppers, M&Ms, Hershey Kisses, and some other, more traditional strings that weren’t too tangled up to use again.
Outside it’s all multicolored lights. The only string that blinks is around the door.
There is a store called Frank’s Nursery and Crafts (in Minnesota–don’t know how widespread they are) and they have all kinds of color combinations. You could get strings of all lavender (well, I think it was “pink”, actually, but it was pretty close) or all blue, or perhaps a combo of the two. I know that they had green and blue together, as well as just about any color and white, and red, green, and white, etc. Nice, thick wiring, too. My tree this year has red and white lights. The “classiness” of white with the color of red to cut white’s “sterility”. Very nice.
Don’t go to Target unless you throw your light strings away at the end of the season. Nice combos, but the light strings themselves are cheapo crap.
I agree with you there. Straight rows and columns is not the effect desired, IMO.
My house isn’t decorated, but there is a house near me that is basically one giant Christmas light. There isn’t an inch of wall not covered and there is a giant (about 20 feet across) star on their roof.
I like you a lot already Carina42. My Danish grandparents had real candles on almost every tree they ever decorated. I wonder if anyone in my family sings the songs in Danish while dancing around the tree anymore.
However, I do recommend a good fire extinguisher nearby. There remains nothing like a tree lit with candles. I have all of the special holders and a box of the special Danish hard wax candles in my holiday supplies.
Thanks for renewing my faith in the spirit of Christmas.
Longs said that an average string of lights uses 49 cents of electricity per 150 hours of use.