About

Sterling Manor Holiday Magic is a family project for us. It represents a perfect marriage of our interests – holiday decorating and all things that light up!

2023 was our first year producing an animated light show. It took us a full year to produce our first show, and we enjoyed it so much that we continue to pour our hearts into making holiday magic each year.

We hope it brings you JOY this holiday season! We are honored every time we see a smiling face watching the lights dance and moved to know we might be part of your Christmas tradition of looking at Christmas lights. It is a favorite family tradition of ours too!

The Show

The 2023 show included nearly 7,000 individual LED pixel lights, and we are now at over 12,700 lights!

We spend the summer year planning and programming, and then installation begins before Halloween with a few multi-seasonal pieces and continues as soon as Halloween comes down. It takes our whole family to put on the show, with each person having a unique role and job.

Hidden Surprise – Featured Singers!

If you listen to “Baby It’s Cold Outside,” you’ll hear our daughter, River, singing with her friend Carson. They make our hearts GLOW!

Q&A

This is really cool, but ARE YOU INSANE?

Perhaps. Actually, yes. Most definitely. Insanely addicted to lights. We always have been! And when it became clear that our son was too, well… we went all in. LIGHTS = JOY, and we all need more joy in life. But in all seriousness, this has been a really fun project and a way for us to connect and work on something together we all love.

OMG I love that [insert here]!! Where did you get it!?

There are a handful of amazing suppliers we used to source the lights, electrical components, and other bits and bobs. But everything requires a massive DIY lift and has to be put together, built, or wired. And some of it we made ourselves (I’m looking at you North Pole!). Think of it like baking – you can buy the ingredients, but then you have to put it all together! If you’re genuinely interested in any part of our show, we’re happy to answer questions. The lighting community is extremely generous and we’re proud to be a part of that.

How did you learn to do all this – are you electrical engineers?

Nope. Before building our show Tom had enough knowledge to wire a light switch, and Amy was afraid to get shocked by said light switch. The internet is a wonderful place full of knowledge just waiting for you to scoop it up, and the lighting community is one of the most insanely generous communities we’ve had the privilege of joining. We learned what we needed and how to pull it all together using YouTube videos, Facebook communities, and one-on-one help from others in the lighting community. It was a TON of work and some trial and error, but we always had a place to turn when things weren’t working right. If you’re interested, start looking into “xlights” (the software we use to program the show) and take it from there.

Do you take special requests for songs?

Our show lets you pick songs you want to watch from our playlist. (SO COOL, right!?) If you want something custom added to our playlist (a wedding proposal!!??), it never hurts to ask. Who knows?