Bright ideas to give string lights a wild, cheeky twist
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Artist Anthony Schmitt has put in time stringing lights. Fourteen years ago, he was commissioned to create a holiday artwork for the Edgemar center in Santa Monica (it’s a 33-foot ‘tree’ of shopping carts), and each year since, he’s personally trimmed it with holiday lights. This year, L.A. at Home asked him to come up with some bright ideas for string lights.
Tree of light: “If you hate cords, hide them,” says Schmitt, who has used materials such as orange plastic construction fencing to create a modernist panel of light. In the picture at left, a simpler concept: Cut a poster board so that it forms a cone. With the poster board laid flat, use a utility knife to cut X-shaped slits in a random pattern. The slits should be cut somewhat smaller than the diameter of the bulbs, so the lights don’t slip out. The bigger the bulb, the easier it is; we used low wattage LEDs. Use duct tape to secure the wires to the back side of the board. Carefully fold the board into a cone and secure it with more duct tape. Cut a small notch at the base for the cord, so it doesn’t prevent the cone from sitting flat. Place the cone on a shelf or against a wall, so the taped seam won’t be visible.
Holiday lei: Artificial flowers with flexible stems can be twisted around light strings to make a garland in which wires almost disappear. For a tropical look, Schmitt recommends an LED string in a recently introduced purple shade ($9.95 at Light Bulbs Unlimited stores), which complements the colors of these artificial orchids ($3.99 each at Michaels). Hint: Wrap the light cord around the flower stems so that the bulbs cluster around the petals.
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Peppermint stick: Icicle lights often come with a white cord. Boring. Wrap the wires with red electrical tape to create a candy-cane cord.
Bulb bouquet: Schmitt says sometimes you don’t even have to take lights out of their package. “You can stack them like blocks or into the shape of a tree and it looks quite modern,” he says. A similar idea: Bind a string of bulbs with wire or tape to form a light bouquet. Place it in any container with two open ends or a flowerpot with a drainage hole big enough to push the plug through.
The bigger the bulbs, the better it looks. For the bouquet at right, we used C-7s, the second largest on the market.
Out of this world: The lights below may look like spaceships or perhaps miniature galaxies, but they’re made with a common household object: Scotch Brite stainless-steel pot scrubbers cut into quarters and slipped over each clear bulb like a cozy. You can use similar products in brass or copper and mix them with colored bulbs.
-- David A. Keeps
Photo credits: Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times