Christmas Color Wheels

Aluminum Christmas Trees aren't meant to be strung with lights like other Christmas trees. The heat would represent a bit of a fire hazard and the weight of the light garlands could damage the aluminum "needles".

Instead, what you want to do is get a rotating Christmas color wheel to show off how your tree sparkles. The color wheel is composed of a spotlight that has three to four different colored lenses, and as the lights are reflected onto the aluminum branches, your tree will appear to change colors as the light slowly rotates. The colors usually alternated between white, red, blue, green and yellow. The color wheel also helps gently catch and reflect the sparkle of whatever Christmas ornaments you use, so look for ornaments that will bring out that sparkle effect -- I like to use ornaments with metallic colors and if you don't want to invest in vintage ornaments, you can easily find suitable contemporary ones at places like Target or Walmart.

If you find yourself shopping too close to Christmas and cannot find yourself a vintage Christmas color wheel, by all means consider a contemporary Christmas light projector. While the rotating color wheels went out of style in the 1970s due to the fading popularity of aluminum trees and the resurgence of real evergreens as the Christmas tree of choice, all things retro are back in style so it is easy to find a modern color wheel. You can look for a fiber optic color wheel or, more commonly, you are likely to find halogen color wheels. While in my opinion these don't look as nice as the rotating vintage wheels, they do have one major advantage -- you can place them outside. By projecting them at any white or neutral-color surface, you will be able to take advantage of the light show.

Vintage PECO 7' Aluminum Christmas Tree + Color Wheel
Vintage PECO 7' Aluminum Christmas Tree + Color Wheel
Paypal   US $172.49
VTG ALUMINUM 6' TREE REVOLVING MUSICAL BASE COLOR WHEEL
VTG ALUMINUM 6' TREE REVOLVING MUSICAL BASE COLOR WHEEL
Paypal   US $19.00