Here's a simple plan to construct an archway to span a walk or driveway.  The ones below span just over 20 feet.

This page was updated December, 2009.  Please read to the bottom to see how we have perfected anchoring the arches)

The arch is made with 1 1/2 inch PVC pipe (painted green), anchored at each end, and wrapped with lights and garland.  The first time I built it, I tried to cheap out and use 3/4 inch pipe.  It held for a few hours, but eventually lost its' structural integrity and collapsed.  Even if I could have anchored it more to make it stay, I seriously doubt it would have lasted the season.  3/4 inch might work well on a small arch though.

Start by calculating the length of pipe needed.  If the arch is to be a semi circle (as the one above), multiply the diameter (length of span) by 3.14 and divide by 2.

Add Some Public Interaction to Your Display!

What is an "Interactive Circuit"?  It's what I describe as any part of the display which your guests can control.  In our display, we have several buttons along our  Christmas fence which are lit and activated during the 45 seconds we have between musical sequences. 

This is how is works.  I'll explain how it's built at the bottom of this page.

During our intermissions, the LED above this button will light, (Separate LOR channel), indicating that the button is now active.

This is probably not a great idea if you have a static display, or a computerized one in a serial or parallel configuration.  However, for our type of setup, this step not only saves us tons of money, but also time, and room as well.

Basically, most people use a standard 3 prong cord to get their power out to the display.  Most outdoor lights only use 2 conductors, so each cord has one wasted wire inside.  Multiply that by our 136 channels (128 LOR & 8 interactive), and that's a lot of wire not being used.  What I do is cut off both ends of the cord leaving about 10 feet of wire on each, and attach 2 conductor cords.  I used the male ends in the construction of my panel, and the female ends have enough cord left on to make it into a new shorter one, so there is very little wastage.
The 2 conductor cords I pick up at the dollar store for a buck each.  About a quarter the price of Home Depot.  Ensure that the cords you buy have one wide plug on each end (this is VERY important).  I mark each end with red or black electrical tape so setup and troubleshooting goes relatively quickly.

  Here's a simple, inexpensive, yet heavy duty way to store huge amounts of lights quickly and neatly.

I made this stand out of 1 inch square steel tube, added pipe, chain, and some miscellaneous hardware, and for a total price of about $50, I have the ultimate method of storing and feeding lights.  I am in the process of making a second one, with future plans of having about a half dozen or so.  Line them all up on the driveway, and just peel off whatever color and amount you need.  Because it folds flat, you can use leverage to your advantage when setting it up.  My 9 year old son can load up a 50 or 60 pound reel almost effortlessly.

The small plastic reel shown in the picture is loaded with 1,500 mini's, and the larger wooden reels that I use hold nearly 4,000.  You can make one of those with a single sheet of plywood, some redi rod and hardware, and a small piece of culvert or 6 inch PVC.  I'll get into that later.