Before getting too deep into all of the ins and outs of this hobby, you may want to ask yourself the following questions:

• Do you want to start a new and exciting hobby that can also have a positive impact on your community?
• Do you enjoy Christmas time and love to see people excited about Christmas lights?
• Do you like learning new things and look at troubleshooting like it’s a game?  
• Do you have the patience to put something down and research problems with active online communities?
• Do you have a home that can handle many people driving by your place and looking at what amazing things you’ve created?
• Do you have excess funds to dedicate to purchasing items like new hardware, testing and troubleshooting tools, and new lights and elements?

In reality, it would be ideal for you to say YES to all the above questions before proceeding. Any one of the above can make or break all of the effort you put into this hobby.

If you did say YES, getting involved in Christmas lights might be your next favorite hobby!

How much time do I dedicate to this?

This will vary significantly based upon how deep you get into this hobby.  Many times there are sales just after Christmas to start building new “elements”, or items that you add to your display.  This is the perfect time to figure out your plan for your display. I would *strongly* recommend starting slow (we didn’t).  This will allow you to build up your knowledge and expertise and make adding new lights and controllers much easier (and with less colorful language).

Is this an expensive hobby?

Well, yes and no.  It simply depends on how crazy you want to go.  Turning on and off lights from Menards is possible with a few controllers and would really get you familiar with the amount of time dedication.  Going crazy with the RGB lights (red-green-blue lights that you can change colors) adds a new level of complexity (and cost).  Again, if you start slowly, you can work on budgeting the portions throughout the year.

Where do I learn more?

There are many sites – well beyond the ones I’m sharing but this should get you started. 

• XLights – This is an amazing, FREE software that I use to create our display.  You can download the software and learn a ton of what this tool has to offer on the site.  This is very active site, and updates to this software happen regularly throughout the year.  I recommend to start at the Wiki section and read. This is a powerful tool with many, many options and it will take some time to digest.  But this is where you can start without spending a dime!

• Falcon Christmas – This is where I get nearly all of our circuit boards to run the lights.  You can see the available controllers in the store link. In each item in the store is a TON of information, along with spec sheets and user manuals.  A great place to start. Then, continue to expand your knowledge by reading more in the forums. The continued support and feature capabilities of these boards is phenomenal.  I’ve barely scratched the surface!  

• DIYLightAnimation – This is where we had started our journey into the next level of Christmas displays.  This site is really in maintenance mode but if you happen to get our Lynx Aether floods or our Lynx Express boxes, this is a great resource.  I would not recommend starting here unless you already have inherited some of the old hardware since it’s not really supported anymore. However, you can still start conversations either here or in the above 2 sites if you have issues – there are many folks that are still using the boards. 

• DoItYourself Christmas – This is a great site especially when you’re trying to build or fix things. You can learn about other hardware beyond Falcon’s boards as well (I haven’t really delved much into them, though).  In the forums section, I like ready about different display items – great information on physical builds! If you like Blowmolds, this is a great resource, along with cutouts and wireframes. More of the traditional areas (along with RGB fun-ness).  Definitely check out the trains and motorized contraptions sections – you’ll be amazed at what folks do. 

• Boscoyo Studio  – This is where I buy our RGB mounting strips (on our mega and mid trees as well as all of the lights on our house), along with the minim trees and snowflakes.  This is a great company and I usually spend a good amount of time (and money) in the beginning of the year when figuring out what else I’m adding to our display.  Beautiful and durable items. 

• Ray Wu – While there are many folks that sell the specific RGB lights we use, I have consistently (and happily) stuck with Ray Wu.  Yes, you’ll be buying lights directly from China, and yes, these do not get here in 2 days. But, if you’re willing to plan ahead, Ray will get you what you need.  100% of my RGB lights have been purchased through Ray. The first few years I had some bulbs out, and he was happy to send replacements in new orders. One recommendation – don’t just add items to cart and then send it on AliExpress – request a shipping estimate for all of the items you’re looking at.  The shipping will be significantly less when you do this. Also, be careful when searching for items here – make sure you click on the “in this store” button or else you’ll find similar lights with other suppliers.  

• Holiday Coro – Another great company to get coro items.  I have regularly purchased RGB pigtails, power supplies, and other items here.  In our Candy Cane Globes, we use their RGB candy can post topper and RGB DMX controllers.  A good company that also stands by their products

• DIYLEDExpress – Another company that usually has great early sales where you can get a lot of the hardware you need.  I’ve purchased enclosures here, panel pieces, power supplies, pigtails, etc. Have always received their products as expected and at a good price.