Stars: 5 out of 5
Pros: Fun lights, lots of detail, good MP3 player
Cons: Price is a little high, but a decent value for what
you get
The Bottom Line:
Festive light display
Timed with playing Christmas songs
Creative and fun
Deck Your House with This Fun Table Top Display
Two years ago, Hallmark released a Magic Cord ornament that is
still my favorite in that line. So when
they announced plans for a table top display version of Deck The House!, I knew
I had to resist. And I did – until I
pressed the button on it once.
Fortunately, I was able to win a version because I might have bought
it. It really is that much fun.
If you’ve seen the ornament of the same name, you’ll find
this piece is actually the same thing.
And if you’ve missed it, the piece was inspired by the viral video a
couple years back of a super decked out how where the lights lit up to the tune
of Manheim Steamroller’s version of “Carol of the Bells.” This piece features a blue house with a huge “Merry
Christmas” sign on the roof. There are
strings of lights going down the roof and three of the sides of the
ornament. The windows have scenes
painted in them. There is a Santa and
two snowmen out front on either side of the walk. And the house must not be finished yet since
someone was still putting lights up. The
ladder has fallen on the ground, and the person is dangling from the roof by
some lights.
And let me tell you, this thing lights up. All of the lights (obviously) light up. There are lights in the windows, which can
light up by themselves. And Santa and
the snowmen light up independently as well.
Oh, and the lights? They blink
red, green, white, and blue (a step up from the ornament, which just featured
white lights).
Then there’s the sound.
Like the ornament, this piece features a fun rock version of “Carol of
the Bells,” and the lights flash on and off, putting on a synchronized
show. But that’s not all. This table top piece actually has four songs
pre-programmed in. The other three are “Deck
the Halls,” “Joy to the World,” and “The Nutcracker.” Each piece lasts about 30 seconds, and the
lights are perfectly synced. It’s a
wonder to watch and pretty mesmerizing.
But that’s not all.
This will also play the music from any MP3 player. There’s a short earphone cord out the back, and
when you plug it in and start playing music, the lights will pulse on and off
to the music. It’s not nearly as synched
as the pre-programmed songs are, but it is a lot of fun still. And rather addicting to watch. Trust me on this, okay?
Obviously, the piece needs power to operate. It comes with a wall cord, or you can use 4
AA batteries (not included) to power it.
I haven’t used the batteries, but the power cord works great.
Let’s talk controls.
On the right hand side of the piece, there is a button and a knob. You turn the knob to turn on the player and
adjust the volume. This thing actually
has fairly decent sound volume. I’ve
been impressed by it, anyway. The button
is used to start the four pre-programmed songs, which rotate through in order.
Now, here’s where it gets a little quirky. When the piece is plugged in to electricity,
you can half a continuous light display, where the piece just flashes the various
lights. (This feature does not work on
battery power.) However, to do that, you
need to have the knob for the sound turned off.
If you leave the MP3 player turned on, only the snowmen will light up,
and they will stay lit. Also, when you
are using this as a music player, it has a hard time registering slow, quiet songs
for the light display. I think it goes
off the base for the lights because any time I notice a slower song starting,
that green snowman is just staring at me for the first 10 or so seconds. It finally starts to fully light up as the
song progresses. However, any song that
starts out quickly, the piece lights up right away. Finally, both sides of the house have lights
that don’t like up. The reason? Those are where the speakers in the piece
are.
The piece sits on a base that is almost square. It’s 5 inches by 6 inches. It’s also almost 10 inches high. It’s still small enough you can find several
places to display it, but also large enough that you’ll be able to enjoy the detail
and the lights. The snow around the
house on the base is also covered in glitter, which adds a nice touch.
I don’t tend to use a speaker system much, usually just
using my computer to listen to music at home.
But that will definitely be changing around Christmas. I love Deck The House! and I plan to find a
place to enjoy it year after year.
Original Price: $79.95
Congratulations on winning such a wonderful piece and thanks for all that great information on how it works.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the congrats and for complimenting the review.
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