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I tried several different methods
of attaching the 4 separate strands to the frame until I finally
came up with a solution. I could have cable tied every
single bulb to the frame, but I'd still be working on them for
next year. I finally came up with a quick and simple
solution using Spt1 that I had used for other
projects.

Measure windows and build
frames out of 1X2s. I used corner brackets to hold the frame
together.

Finished frame. When assembling
the frame try and have all good sides facing out. It will make
it easier to line up the lights once you start inserting
them.

Flip the finished frame over on the bad
side and staple on end of the cord to the frame. Pull the
cord along the underside of the frame to the next corner,
pull it tight, and staple it down. Make sure you don't
twist the cord because it will cause some of the bulbs to
twist as well.
 Continue stapling cord along all 4 sides
of the frame. This is the one time you really want to make
sure your staples are going through the cord.

Flip the frame over once you've
completed all the sides.

You'll want to measure the starting
side for the correct bulb spacing. I'm using 4 colors on
strands that have 12" spacing so my bulbs are 3" apart.

Slide the first bulb in the strand
under the cord and secure it with a cable tie. The cable tie
will keep the bulb from moving around while you attach the rest of
the bulbs.

Start inserting the strand under the
cord and continue around the frame until it's completed.

Don't worry about the corner bulbs at
this stage. After you've done several you'll understand that
you can use the corner for adding or taking up a little slack.
Most window won't be a multiple of 12 so you'll have to tweak some
of the spacing. I found it best to adjust the spacing on the
short sides of the frames since the spacing isn't as noticable
there.

This is what my frame looked like with
the first strand attached.

Continue with all other strands until
they're all in place.

You'll want to check the spacing on the
long side of the frame just to make sure you have the spacing the
same. This's where you can use the corner
adjustments.

Continue until all strands are in
place.

Back to those pesky corners. Just
cable tie the corner bulbs to the frame. You can see that I
had to play with the spacing a bit to get the frame to look
balanced.

Although the bulbs are laying flat
against the frame, I wanted to make sure they stayed that way so I
added a few extra cable ties just to make the cord a little
tighter.
Now all you need to do is attach power
cords to the strands, insulate the end of the strand with electrical
tape
Place the finished frame in the
window. I'm not using anything to attach them to the
house. The frames are sized perfectly to fit the opening and
the cord on the corners is giving it enough tension to fit like a
glove.

Yippee!!! All done!!!
Remember this is
my site and my opinions, I'm not an expert at anything, if you have
questions or constructive comments e-mail me, and
finally, please don't post any of this information on the
TCL site or boards. Thanks! |