Bastard Christmas tree lights!

[KimberleyClark]

We usually have a pre lit tree inherited from ILs. This year I fell in love with a set of Victorian Lantern lights that were exactly the same as we had as a kid so I ordered them to put on the other fake tree we have. I’ve had a fucking nightmare of an afternoon trying to disentangle them, keep them disentangled (they get tangled again if you take your eye off them for a second) and trying to get them on the tree evenly. The bastards were tangling up as I put them on the tree. Most of them ended up on the bottom half. WIBU to bin them and get the prelit tree out, and write a stinking review on Amazon?

It sounds like a two person job to do it without those issues. If once they are up they look crap or are defective then liaise with the seller.

If they do work then leave a review stating they were a bit tricky to hang alone.

I bought a few sets of these in 2019 for our '70s Christmas. No trouble at all. I'm sorry I'm putting this down to user error.

This is exactly why I’d always plump for a pre lit tree. I always think Christmas tree lights, headphones and anything that tangles must be secretly alive because how can you store them nicely in a box, take them out and its all entwined within itself

Get a storage reel for when you put them away, or wrap them round empty wrapping paper tubes. It’s a one off pain, and hopefully, you can avoid it in future years.

In our house this is called "operator error". Some things are not intuitive!

To be honest, I have this issue with ALL our lights; even when I wrap them around a piece of robust cardboard it still happens. I am one of those people who cannot refold a map the way it was, or untangle a hose, or get knots out of necklaces. (I think it is one of the ways my dyspraxia presents...)

Can you get someone to help put them on, they can straighten any loops and hold the excess? It wouldn't be fair to leave a stinker of a review for that, they'll probably look fantastic when they're on and lit?

And YY to getting/making a reel or similar to wind them onto, it'll probably help next year.

Unless they were tangled when they arrived, I don't see how it's the fault of the lights.

I always wind them around a tube from the foil, cling film etc and they still get tangled! What happens to lights stored carefully all year that work when you put them away and don't work when you get them out again?

Tangle gnomes. They're real I tell you. Real!

Best lights I’ve found in ages are a set of warm white STATIC! lights - no wretched faffing to find the non-horrible-flashing setting - on a green cable, and just one strand. Wilko, £5 for 100, £9.50 IIRC for 200.

Can we get a pic of said bastard lights?

I've been trying without success to find a small set of coloured lanterns as I remember them from being a kid.

Also have to say that I got the most gorgeous set of LED Canterbury belle lights in retro colours from Aldi this year. Absolute bargain at £14.99. Only trouble is the first setting is a somewhat fit- inducing random flash! (Think the neighbours look forward to me getting home each night and turning them off of auto!)

We have now got the pre lit tree up. The Victorian lantern lights were, if truth be told, a little underwhelming but I have kept them, my plan is to buy a really nice fake tree next year and try the lights again. Meanwhile here is my tree.

Your tree looks lovely

Thank you!