photo:
2006
First, determine where you want your backdrop. See the diagram below. We wanted to be able to access the display from the back. We also wanted to be able to to walk out the laundry room door, behind the backdrop, then out the side garage door.
Second, staple the sheeting to the ceiling. When you are done putting up the sheeting, it should look like a giant black curtain hanging from your ceiling. See below. TIPS: Use lots of staples. If one side of the sheeting is shinier than the other, you want the dull side facing toward the audience. This will reduce glare when lights twinkle and camera flashes fire.
Third, begin placing cup hooks immediately in front of the sheeting. Just screw them right into the ceiling. Space them about every 12 inches. These cup hooks will hold the net lights. Check out this blog post from the 2007 display for an up-close photo.
Fourth, hang up the net lights. We make the white net lights twinkle (with a twinkle bulb replacement that has a red tip). Hang up the white nets right over the blue net lights. TIP: We've found that making the white lights twinkle while the blues are static gives almost a 3D effect. The blue lights just seem to fade off in the distance while the white ones pop in front and flicker.
Fifth, hang up your sheers. We tried out two colors: black and navy. We determined we liked black the best. We then stapled the sheers to the ceiling immediately in front of the cup hooks. TIPS: Throw the sheers in the dryer for 30 mins to get the creases/wrinkles out before you hang them up. Make sure there is an inch of overlap between adjacent sheers; use safety pins to pin the edges of adjacent sheers together.
Lastly, be careful. Don't do something careless like plug in 50 strands of lights on one power strip. We're not responsible for any harm you may cause to yourself or others. Happy lighting!