Restoring Mr. Snowman...

It was a Christmas present given to us from my sister-in-law a long time ago. We've put out Mr. Snowman every year. 

Even when his lights were all but out.

Years ago my wife's sister had a craft room where she created amazing things! We were fortunate enough to have received several of her works of art. Two make their appearance each December (and, sometimes sooner...). They're showing signs of wear-and-tear, especially, since we've got a big dog in the house.

But, we've always put out Mr. Snowman.

This week I've had some time on my hands. I brought out Mr. Snowman from storage and went to work on the lights. Given enough time, I'm usually able to troubleshoot a string of Christmas lights. I unplugged and plugged in each lightbulb several times--thankfully, it's a 25-light string. I even replaced the small fuses that are in the plug. 

Nope--no lights, nothing.

I'd have to replace the lights. Trouble is, 25-light strings are no longer as popular as they once were. Before I worked on Mr. Snowman's lights, there was another string of lights I was also trying to troubleshoot. Its problem was different--only half the lights worked.

Turns out, a half-lit string was a perfect replacement for the non-working one. It took a little time, and there's a lot of the string wrapped up and hiding behind, but for the first time in years, Mr. Snowman is happy and bright. 

And so are we.