For a couple of years we have been using my family’s 60’s silver Christmas tree. It is definitely a classic and with a new rotating light, fascinated the grandkids.
Antique Silver Tree
But this year I thought I would like to try one of those tall skinny fake trees. I want to use our traditional ornaments again and they are too heavy for the silver tree. I’ve been looking for a tree for a few months on craigslist but the sellers were either too far away or I was not as motivated as I am now. The sellers are smart to wait for the holidays to get the best price. I bought the tree from a family who pick them up at garage sales etc. all year and refurbish them if they can. They were decorating their house when I arrived to buy the tree, the kids were on the roof, and invited me back to see it at night. Last year they won a prize and their entire December electric bill was paid for them! This one had been prelit and they could not fix the lights. But I decided to take the lights off the tree.
Craigslist 9 ft. tree
Instead of just cutting them off though, like most of the examples on other blogs, I just unwound them from branch to branch. I actually think this was easier, because every other branch had a twig wrapped completely around the light and it would have been difficult to find them all and unwrap them. But I was rewarded with tons of needles falling onto the floor and to me. I think this tree is pretty old! But it serves the purpose for this year.
Unwinding the lights
As it was it took me about five hours to unwrap all the lights. There are more blackened bulbs than clear ones so it was probably a power surge that killed these lights.
Broken light pile
I’m not sure if these strings of lights have enough value to save for another project. There are several fused plugs and it is always good to have extra plugs around but they are only rated for 3 amps. They are all white lights.
I’m thinking of ordering sets of LED bulbs to replace them with. Some say the LED’s are too bright but I have some that are not very bright. Just a bit large for the tree. I like the look of this tall skinny tree though. I had to rearrange all the living room furniture to fit it into the room.
New Christmas Tree