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The 2006 Mini Tree Project

Ah, the Christmas Lighting Fanatic's perfect decoration! Mini-trees are created by wrapping lights on floral easel frames to resemble a tree (the most popular frames are floral easels or tomato cages). In 2006, for the first year of our display, we built 24 small trees (25"), 6 medium trees (33"), and 5 large trees (48"). The small trees have 400 lights, the mediums have 600 lights, and the large trees have 800 lights, for a total of 17,200 lights on these trees.

The unique thing about our trees at Belardo Lights is that they can change colors because we have two different colors of lights wrapped on them. Each tree has two power cords running to it, and each cord is powered by a separate controller channel. So by turning each color group on and off on the trees, it appears that the trees are changing colors! We have them dance and chase around the display, and the trees have been a hit with visitors young and old alike. How do you DO that, people ask?! Well, now you know. Shhh!

Making the trees is time consuming, but not particularly difficult. First, you must put on some Christmas music (even in the summertime)! Then, when building the tree, start at the top of the frame with the female socket end of a mini light string. Wrap the lights around the frame and attach them with black or clear cable ties at every turn for the first string. Subsequent strings don't need as many ties, as they are held by the previous string of lights. You want to end up with the male plugs for each light string group at the bottom of the frame so they can be plugged in from there. If the lights are going to be one color, then you don't need to leave any space in between layers when wrapping. But if you're going to create the dual-color trees like we did, then you'll need to leave some space in between the wraps of the first color for the second color so you can come back and fill in the gaps. Wrap the lights tight around the frame and secure with cable ties. Be careful not to stretch the wires too much when wrapping the tree or some of the lights may not function correctly with a poor connection.

It takes about 90 minutes to make a small tree with 400 lights. Brandon and I spent many summer weekends building and testing trees, to the point of being worn out and having sore fingers. But we finally got them done, and it was worth the effort. We hope you enjoy the mini-trees when you visit our display, and keep your eyes open to see them change color!