Let's see your Christmas tree!!

[BlackLagoon]

Well considering I still feel the same way about Christmas now as I do when I was 8, I figured this would be a fun thread...plus I'm dying to show this one thing off I scored off ebay a couple weeks back..anyway UMA'ers..Tis' The Season! Heed Jacob Marley's warning! 

Ok 1st, this camera is JUNK..(I swear the last 50 cameras I had I mustve gotten from a Cracker Jack box..add that to my list) having said that...I LOVE anything from the 40's-50's I could live in the movie Christmas Story. Well a year ago I got a book called "It's A Wonderful Christmas" that is basically a guide to Christmas from 1940-the mid 50's and I saw these Noma Bubbler lights. When I was taking a break from dragging ornaments out the other morning I made coffee and hopped on ebay...won these with 4 seconds left! Less than 50.00 shipped!....These pictures do them no justice!







Well unfortunately the camera wont pic up how awesome these things look, especially after about 3 minutes or so when they actually start bubbling. All these new LED lights are fantastic, bright and safe but you simply do not see colors that look like this anymore. Gone are the days of glass and those awesome warm and vibrant colors that came from them...As of now I'm keeping them boxed under the tree and plugging them in to show off from time to to time. I'm looking for another set to string up...being that this was from 1948 and in such great shape I'm actually too afraid to hang them and ruin something.

They really made my mom happy when she saw them...this was a good buy!

[BlackLagoon]

7 ft of enough Christmas goodness to keep Marley's ghost the hell away from me!

[BlackLagoon]

This little one is a 4ft white tree with nothing but red and silver balls and white and red lights. I got the tree topper from Fortunoff years ago. My family calls it my "Thanksgiving Tree" as it makes it's 1st appearance in early November .....true story, I throw a black hefty bag over it and keep it in my closet...it's the easiest tree you ever set up in your life 



The Nutcrackers were collected over the years. I saw the play in elementary school and thought the sword fight against the rat's was awesome....some of these guys may or may not have reenacted that scene under my tree as a kid. 

[BlackLagoon]

Excuse my language but this is a bitch....every year. It's not much by "train guy" standards. I go and get a 5x9 piece of plywood and have Home Depot cut it down to about ...4x6 I think. Under it I nailed in a couple of 2x4s so it wont bevel and put it up on a couple of work horses in the back sunroom. There is an old red Christmas tablecloth that goes on first...some battery operated LED lights strewn around the edges and then all the crap on top.



So now all the snow and other stuff is laid out..the track is from a Lionel "ready to run set"...the Nutcracker Route. In the center I took 4 pieces of 0 Gauge track and just ran it off the same transformer. The airport beacon runs off a seperate small accessory transformer. I put those 4 pieces there and have luminated bumpers on the ends and threw a few cars on there just to throw off some light.

What's actually running on the track right now is a Lionel Christmas Trolley. I have about 10 locomotives and ALOT of freight cars...it's a small, seasonal set so I don't take the cars out much, though sometimes I'll show em off. The locomotives will make the rounds but they are NOISEY!!....The trolley makes almost no sound save for the clicking of track as it passes.

There are HESS trucks up there, way out of scale but my girl's daughter plays with em and so do my cousins.......and sometimes someone else does too lol.

[Unknown Primate]

Man!  That is quite a set-up you have, Jess!  Since we moved into this apartment, my wife still doesn't know if she wants a real tree, big or small, artificial or whatever.  I'm ready to decorate, but she has to be my supervisor so I don't do anything weird (in her eyes).

[BlackLagoon]

Thanks Mark!

Believe me my place isn't all that big..you can definitely have some fun if you get creative with space!

Speaking of "weird" ...I can't tell you how great I thought the Manger under our tree was for an army men base......my parents thought that was weird.....weird in a wooden spoon kinda way lol

[Unknown Primate]

Ha!  That's classic, bro!

[Scatter]

Now THAT will get you in the Christmas spirit for sure!! Wish I could see those lights bubble!

[charp13]

B.L.-  I LOVE your spirit! You have brought so much joy to the UMA with your creative topics, and with your thoughtful & intelligent posts. I wish you were my neighbor or my brother! I just adore you!!    The way you hit the ground running after all the trouble that evil hurricane (I won't say her name!) brought you- and with no electricity....you are such an inspiration    I hope you and your family have a fantastic Christmas and a wonderful New Year. Your trees are beautiful! And your nutcracker collection is amazing! You and your family must have so much fun together during the holidays. I can see by your photos that you have a talent for decorating. Everything looks awesome- and all the little details (I love the mini stockings) are brilliant!

[Count_Zirock]

I remember my Italian neighbors down the block had those bubble lights when I was a kid. There are things of beauty, for sure.

I don't put up a Christmas tree anymore. At 82, my mother doesn't care--or so she claims. I'm an atheist now, so it's pointless to me. Plus, I don't want to have to be yelling at the cat every 5 minutes for knocking a tree over.

I did it well past my mid-30's (even after I'd become atheist) when we had our house in NJ and my dad was still alive. I did it for my parents, because Dad couldn't do it anymore after his stroke, and Mom's arthritis made putting on the lights and garland nearly impossible. Also, the cat we had then had been raised with us having one, so it wasn't hellbent on destroying it!

I have a wreath we'll hang on the apartment door, and a little Nativity scene we can put out that, with any luck, the cat won't even notice. Our patio is in the back where no one can see it, so there's no sense in decorating that, either.

[ChattyLMS]

Wow! You guys all have nice Christmas trees and decorations!  We're putting our Christmas tree up on Saturday.  Our daughter and her boyfriend are coming to decorate it.  She bought us a really nice train decoration that we will put up, too.  I also have am M&M's train with cars that look like this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=350650070039&ssPageName=ADME:X:AAQ:US:1123
There are several different train cars.  I love them.  They made them very strong.  The came on the top of M&M's Christmas candy tubes several years ago.  I love putting them under the tree.  The family doesn't.

[BlackLagoon]

B.L.-  I LOVE your spirit! You have brought so much joy to the UMA with your creative topics, and with your thoughtful & intelligent posts. I wish you were my neighbor or my brother! I just adore you!!    The way you hit the ground running after all the trouble that evil hurricane (I won't say her name!) brought you- and with no electricity....you are such an inspiration    I hope you and your family have a fantastic Christmas and a wonderful New Year. Your trees are beautiful! And your nutcracker collection is amazing! You and your family must have so much fun together during the holidays. I can see by your photos that you have a talent for decorating. Everything looks awesome- and all the little details (I love the mini stockings) are brilliant!

Thanks so much for the good word!! I think I was handed down genes from Clark Griswold with the lights lol, but this year after the power outage..I cant find enough things to plug in!

If you guy's decorate I hope you'll share your pics!!

[BlackLagoon]

Now THAT will get you in the Christmas spirit for sure!! Wish I could see those lights bubble!

I have been going on and on about these lights since they got to my door....I don't know what the deal is, I'm mezmorized! I think I got a deal deal with them, but I'm pretty sure you can snag them in good shape pretty cheap in general. I'm actually gonna hunt for a 2nd set.

[BlackLagoon]

Chatty I hope you post pics!

[Fester]

Well considering I still feel the same way about Christmas now as I do when I was 8, I figured this would be a fun thread...plus I'm dying to show this one thing off I scored off ebay a couple weeks back..anyway UMA'ers..Tis' The Season! Heed Jacob Marley's warning! 

Ok 1st, this camera is JUNK..(I swear the last 50 cameras I had I mustve gotten from a Cracker Jack box..add that to my list) having said that...I LOVE anything from the 40's-50's I could live in the movie Christmas Story. Well a year ago I got a book called "It's A Wonderful Christmas" that is basically a guide to Christmas from 1940-the mid 50's and I saw these Noma Bubbler lights. When I was taking a break from dragging ornaments out the other morning I made coffee and hopped on ebay...won these with 4 seconds left! Less than 50.00 shipped!....These pictures do them no justice!

Well unfortunately the camera wont pic up how awesome these things look, especially after about 3 minutes or so when they actually start bubbling. All these new LED lights are fantastic, bright and safe but you simply do not see colors that look like this anymore. Gone are the days of glass and those awesome warm and vibrant colors that came from them...As of now I'm keeping them boxed under the tree and plugging them in to show off from time to to time. I'm looking for another set to string up...being that this was from 1948 and in such great shape I'm actually too afraid to hang them and ruin something.

They really made my mom happy when she saw them...this was a good buy!

They still make them. 
Keep your antique ones safe and buy some new. 
http://www.noveltylights.com/Traditional-Bubble-Christmas-Light-Set-7-Lamps.html