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Merry Christmas! I made you a special Christmas decoration!

I designed and programmed this from scratch for my closest friends and family. It’s taken me several months of engineering, but it’s been a lot of fun, and I learned a lot of new things while I built it. The engineering is all my own work; that’s why my name is in the copyright notice in one corner of the back! It’s conceptually inspired by a similar circuit that Dad and I built in the 80s from a magazine article, but this circuit uses completely different modern technology. I sent my blueprints to a factory in Houston to create the circuit boards, and to a one-man 3D printing company in Mountain View to create the stands. I hand-programmed and signed each circuit board. In the four months I spent creating this, I went through three revisions of the circuit board (plus several smaller test designs), four revisions of the stand, and hundreds of revisions of the program. I hope you enjoy the Christmas lights in your home as much as I’ve enjoyed creating it! The circuit board is fun and flashy, but handle it carefully. It’s a bit stronger than one of those shellacked sugar cookie ornaments. Don’t bend it too much; it’s fiberglass and can crack. When you travel or pack it away after Christmastime, keep the circuit board in the resealable grey antistatic bag it came in, and use padding to keep it from bending or cracking.

The big gold circles are buttons. The labels are beneath the buttons. ON/OFF, BRIGHT+, and BRIGHT- are self-explanatory. PEACE, LOVE, and JOY are different flashing patterns. The LOVE pattern is my favorite, but I’ll use PEACE sometimes when I’m watching a movie in the room and the flickering gets distracting. To power it, your best choice is a USB charger, like the one that I gave you with the circuit board. Other USB ports will usually work. A few won’t work, but won’t hurt it either. If you want to turn off the lights for a little while, use the ON/OFF button instead of just unplugging it (to make sure that you don’t break the connector).

I put some circuitry in there to keep it from having problems with static electricity, but that’s still a concern. It’s probably better to have it in a room with hardwood or tile floors instead of a carpet. If you have to clean the circuit board, use distilled water only. If something sticky gets on it, you can use rubbing alcohol with a toothbrush, but be careful to avoid the signature on the back. Blot dry and set it on a paper towel.

If you need more details, I’ve got plenty! For most people, the User's guide has the answers you might need. For technical information, take a look at the links in the sidebar.

Enjoy, and Merry Christmas!