Tom Clapper Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 I've tried searching for this but didn't find what I was looking for. I made some mini's this year by folding some wire fencing to make them but they are a little small at about 36" tall. How tall are most of yours and also how many lights do you use. Mine have 400 white minis and 60 white leds that I wrapped like garland just to add some pop to them. Thay were almost overpowering to the rest of my display. I plan on making them three color (R,G,W) next year and figured I'd have to eliminate some of the whites and plan to take off the leds since I'm doing the three color. Thanks for any info/advise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 I bought various sizes of tomato cages (Lowes had best selection) wrapped them in plastic chicken wrap, and depending on size, anywhere from 100-300 minis per color, 3 colors...red, green, blue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Simmons Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 Tom Clapper wrote: ... 36" tall... 400 white minis... 60 white leds... Thay were almost overpoweringI'm not surprised looking at that math. But it all depends on the look you seek and where they are located. Along the fence at the back property line they'd probably be okay... in the front yard they'd wash out people's night vision.Check mine in any of my videos. They're 32" tomato cages wrapped with 200 clear minis, 50 red led, 50 blue LED, and 7.5' of green ropelight. (The videos from later in the season show progressive amounts of snow slowly overtaking the minis) My neighbor's mini trees, visible in some of the 2009 videos, are the same size and have 50 cool white LED and 50 blue LED. Admittedly, I've got a couple of shallow front yards to work with and the mini trees are front and center in both, but all mini trees are plenty bright in all colors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cray Augsburg Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 Tom:I use 4-ft artifical trees (Indiana Spruce from Wal-Mart). Wrap them with 200 each of clear, red and white. As George pointed out, location is everything -- mine are right up front. And they look plenty bright in any of the three colors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 My 36 inch trees (did 8 of them) were 100 per color, and were plenty bright. The monsters I made that used 300 lights per color were like 56 inches tall..found them at a local yard shop. Also found one misfit that was about 48 inches tall, but huge diameter...also 300 lights/color. There's no real formula, you just have to experiment and see what you like.We are all our own worst critics, but every one of my trees I could find spots that begged for more lights, especially when only one color was lit, or better more even wrapping, but thats part of the mini tree look...i actually came to like the "randomness" from tree to tree color by color when I watched them do what I had sequenced them to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cray Augsburg Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 DonFL wrote: i actually came to like the "randomness" from tree to tree color by color when I watched them do what I had sequenced them to do.YESSS! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shempster Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 http://www.planetchristmas.com/Build3DTrees.htmThese work great for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brett H. Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 Hey Tom, I used 5 foot tall concrete reinforcement mesh to build our trees. You can get it at any local hardware store for pretty cheap. Attached files Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reitan_family Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 I used .25 hot rolled steel and made both 2' and 4' trees. On the small trees I used 100ct each of red/green lights and the larger ones have 200ct each of red/green I choose to go to a local dollar tree and buy 15' of garland for $1 and wrapped and wire tied to the upright supports. The reason for the ties is I stack mine in the off season on harbor freight furniture rollers in my garage. I like the garland because during daylight hours they have that look. I'm sure you will find what works for you. Good luck :-) Attached files Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TJ Hvasta Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 30" cages from any Nursery.. between $3-6$ ea depending on height.. wrapped with plastic chicken wire from HomeDepot, 3 single strings of red, green & blue (300 total), then topped with garland for that daytime appeal.. this was my mini-assembly line..WalMart had the same thing with 24" plastic-framed minis, pre-wrapped with garland, $6/ea.. jst add the lights.. best thing was being plastic frame, it wouldnt short to ground when wet and pop GFI's Attached files Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crackchecker Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 I use 36" tomato cages that I modify to come to a point on the top. Between the metal uprights on the cage I run a vertical 100# test ocean fishing line to help the lights keep a nice round shape.My trees only have 100 mini incandesents on them and I feel for my setup that is more than enough. I will soon be changing to R, G, W LED's soon though. Keeping with 100 count each.Don't get me wrong, I like the way the mini trees look with garland on them but if you have them positioned in front of other display objects they will detract from them. Without garland and when the mini trees are off they are relativly transparent. Attached files Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TJ Hvasta Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 I thot about that, but the size of the yard and where the mini's usually go, there isnt anything small behind them.. Attached files Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerrymac Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 Tom Clapper wrote: I've tried searching for this but didn't find what I was looking for. I made some mini's this year by folding some wire fencing to make them but they are a little small at about 36" tall. How tall are most of yours and also how many lights do you use. Mine have 400 white minis and 60 white leds that I wrapped like garland just to add some pop to them. Thay were almost overpowering to the rest of my display. I plan on making them three color (R,G,W) next year and figured I'd have to eliminate some of the whites and plan to take off the leds since I'm doing the three color. Thanks for any info/advise.Try this one. http://www.christmasdisplays.net/howtovideos.php Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Medichunt Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 I used .25 hot rolled steel and made both 2' and 4' trees. On the small trees I used 100ct each of red/green lights and the larger ones have 200ct each of red/green I choose to go to a local dollar tree and buy 15' of garland for $1 and wrapped and wire tied to the upright supports. The reason for the ties is I stack mine in the off season on harbor freight furniture rollers in my garage. I like the garland because during daylight hours they have that look. I'm sure you will find what works for you. Good luck :-) Attached files I used .25 hot rolled steel and made both 2' and 4' trees. On the small trees I used 100ct each of red/green lights and the larger ones have 200ct each of red/green I choose to go to a local dollar tree and buy 15' of garland for $1 and wrapped and wire tied to the upright supports. The reason for the ties is I stack mine in the off season on harbor freight furniture rollers in my garage. I like the garland because during daylight hours they have that look. I'm sure you will find what works for you. Good luck :-) Attached files Were can you find the hot rolled steel? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Hamilton Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 Well, you start with a giant 200 foot redwood tree and whittle it down to 3 feet!Seriously, I used 3 feet tall Walmart trees as I have been too busy to make my own trees in the past. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stanward Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 Were can you find the hot rolled steel?You need to go to a steel supplier, they provide raw materials like sheet metal, channel iron, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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