Big Progress on The Garage Today!

John and I worked on the garage for several hours today and we really got a lot done!

We only have a few more bins to take to storage. The last thing we have to do is take all the lights off the front palm trees. We are dreading that, but it needs to be done. Then I can start on redoing the horid veggie garden that was killed in last week's freezing weather.

2009 Video of Copeland Christmas

I finally posted a 5 minute video montage of 6 songs from this year's display.


2009 Montage Copeland Christmas from danielle copeland on Vimeo.

The two coolest songs are not in this video. More coming soon!

New year, new website

Here's a photo from our sushi party on January 15th. It was so fun. The porch and garage was still half up then. Now, the porch is done and the garage is 75% done.

For two years now, I've wanted to revamp www.CopelandChristmas.com. I finally did! It's been streamlined big time. I'm now using templates and css, so updating will be much much easier. Things were a bit hard to find (in my opinion), so I changed that too. Now, if anything, the site is too simple....but I like it that way.

More After Christmas Sale Items

I've been watching these lighted porcelain houses for over a month. They have gone on 50% clearance and I have been waiting for them to go down to 75%. I bought them today at 50% because I KNOW they will be gone if I don't jump on them.





So, for 2010 I will do a larger Disney scene than 2009. I already have two other Disney porcelain houses. So, 6 pieces will make a nice little scene. Now, I'm on the lookout for little porcelain disney characters. I have a few, but I need more.

Day 4 of Copeland Christmas Tear Down 2009

I spent the better part of today cleaning and setting up the living room. It is finally free of Christmas stuff....except for the huge village scene under the TV.

Slowly we are getting back to normal! :)

Computer Work for 2010 Copeland Christmas

I spent some time earlier this week cleaning up the computer files that control the lights here at Copeland Christmas.

Basically, I learned how to change the timing grid in the Light-O-Rama software. Now, our sequence files are all nice and consistent at a tenth of a second. This means that the lights will blink 10 times per second. This is also why it takes soooo long to program each song.

For each song that plays on our radio each night, there are several computer files that execute.

- music file (.wav or .mp3)
- schedule file (tells the computer to play the show between 6 and 10pm)
- show file (tells the computer which files to play)
- sequence file (tells the electric boxes which lights to blink)
- animation file (.jpg that shows a rendering of the display)

I still have certain parts that blink much faster than 10 times per second, but in general I like using the 10th of a second rule.

Christmas Tear Down Time Lapse

Pretty boring video....but it shows part of the 4 hours that I spent today on tearing down the inside stuff. John and Joey got the outside done today. They made two storage trips and already took back dozens of full bins. Danielle helped me today. She helped me get the brick pantry scenes completely done.

2009 Tear Down Began Today

John and Joey took down all the outdoor lights (except for the trees) today. They got most of the extension cords and made a few storage trips. I went 75% shopping at Walmart and Target. My fun begins tomorrow. Here's a few shots of the porch from last week. We had 10 trees on the porch this year...each had a different theme.

We had the following themed trees: princess, tropical, gingerbread, USA, Peacock, Vintage, Gator, and LED. We had 6 snowmen, 5 motionettes, and one train also.

After Christmas Sales: Part 3

For the big '09 after Christmas shopping rush, we got a lot more than we expected to get. We filled both vehicles top to bottom, front to back. Here's the run down.


The first store opened at 5am. We were finished and home by 9:30.


5am- I hit Penneys.
6am- We both hit Macys.
7am- I hit Target. John hit Sears.
7:30- I hit Michaels. John hit Lowes & Penneys.
8am- We both hit Home Depot & Kohls.
9am- We both hit Dillards.

John took everything to storage and we called it a day. Here are some highlights...

4 ft pink tree (prelit) Kohls 2x
4 ft white tree (prelit) Kohls
4 ft gold tree (prelit) Kohls
small pink tree skirt Kohls
small pink tree skirt Kohls
3 ft glass candy cane Kohls
18 " fiber optic snowman from Target
lighted glitter white village scene Target 2x
Philips LED mini trees 8 total soft white Target
Thomas Train inflatable HD
5 bags village trees HD
Teeter Totter outdoor Tinsel lighted HD
4 ft. LED topiaries 2x soft white in pots Penneys
tall snowman lantern Penneys
2 lg prelit gingerbread houses Penneys
2 buckets gold/white ornaments Penneys
tall LED outdoor tree Penneys
Tinsel Bear in balloon Sears
Tinsel Penguin in parachute Sears
circus village pieces Lowes
Annalees Macys
Annalees Dillards
gator snowman Lowes

I know there's more from Target...already can't remember.

After Christmas Sales: Part 2

More 75% shopping at Macys. I found all these great angel ornaments for less than $2 ea.


Here's the 09 gold angel kitchen scene. A white tree might be nice in place of this gold tree. Then, I could decorate the white tree with the gold angels. Or perhaps, I could hang the ornaments from the ceiling or arrange them on the snow.

I got these Annalee cat angels (that light up) for $7...a very good price. These guys will look great in the angel scene.

The best part of all is that my total for all this stuff was $67. The total savings was $200!

UPDATE: WANNA SEE A PHOTO FROM THE ACTUAL 2010 DISPLAY THAT USES THESE ORNAMENTS?

After Christmas: Sales Part 1

I went to Macys a few days after Christmas. The sales were 75% off and I was surprised to find a lot of stuff left. I went on the 26th also...more later on that sale!!!

Here are a few gnomey ornaments I picked up for a new gnome themed Christmas tree. Don't know what color the tree should be...white? Total price: $15-$20 plus the tree.

Check out other gnomey postings at my travel blog and my garden blog.