Ryan McFarland

If you have begun to replace your incandescent Christmas lights with LED lights then you’re already well on your way to saving money. LED lights don’t need constant replacement like incandescents do. They use up to 90% less electricity and since they are cooler there is a reduced fire hazard. The only real reason to keep your old lights is because you have them. Well, what if you knew your old ones would be recycled and you could get 10% off your purchase of new, cool, inexpensive to operate LED Christmas lights? Sounds like a deal to me (even though we didn’t put a tree up this year). So recycle your old Christmas lights and save some money in the long run. You have to have them postmarked by the end of January to get the discount.

It might be a good time to mention the Instructables LED contest with prizes of Robot t-shirts and TV-B-gone kits. I have an idea for a project that would use LEDs to light up our house number that is etched in plexiglass. Hmmm… I do have a piece of glass and some chemical glass etching that i could use to make this little project. The contest closes on the 10th of January.

I better go pack up our old Christmas lights and maybe lay out some house numbers on glass.

A long time ago Tiffany gave me a night light base to make something neat for her daughter. It has occupied an outlet in my project room ever since. I see it every now and then and contemplate a fate for it. I have a start - the light bulb. Most night lights are designed to hold a small clear light bulb like the strings of Christmas lights used to use. Well, white isn’t a good light to use at night - it ruins your night vision. And one of those small incandescent bulbs is so 20th century! It just so happens that these LED lights fit the socket of the night light. They also use 1 watt or less of electricity. Now i just need to come up with a decoration for the light!