Totally awesome. I can tell you put a lot of work and much thought into. Thanks for doing all of that work so we can get so much pleasure out of them. Too cool. Thanks again and great job.
You don’t know me (your father either by the way, only from Facebook), but we know your mom already for over 20 years. We are from Holland!
I am very impressed about you decorating your van! I have also put 2 pictures on my blog, so you are famous now in Holland and even in Belgium, as I have a lot of readers overthere. http://geldorpjes.wordpress.com/2012/12/03/kerstversiering/
You did an awesome job and its always fun when people react and like it!
Looking forward to next year already.
We wish you from Holland (at this moment actually Gran Canaria) “Merry Chrismas and a very Happy New Year!”
This looks so great,BJ! I live in Wichita and a man here did that and was ticketed for being a distraction. Scrooges!!! Merry Christmas to you and your family and keep the spirit!
Incredible!! Good job. Great video and explanation. A mobile light show. If friends and family can’t visit your house and see the lights, then take the lights to them. lol
looks neat and very creative. Could be dangerous though – could cause distraction to other drivers. Unfortunately, if you did that around here, you would almost certainly get pulled over.
Great job young man! You will go far in your endeavors for the future with your perservance and adaptability to overcome challenges and think things through!!
Love the Christmas lights car!!
Howdy from West Texas!!! This is GREAT!!! You do a fine job of explaining, step by step, how you made such a terrific traveling light show! I have been a subscriber to your family’s “Living on a Dime” website for a couple of years now, and cannot begin to tell you how many things I have learned–thanks to all of you for being generous enough to share your hints and tips with others! Merry Christmas to you and your family!!!
BJ- super job there! House & car look awesome! Thanks for sharing and making our Christmas a little merrier! We are proud of you as a teenager taking the time to make other people’s Christmas much “brighter”! There are probably shut-ins that will take great pleasure in seeing your lights! Thank You!
Hi BJ. My husband and I are in Arkansas. Loved your postings of your Christmas Lights. Wanted you to know also that my loved ones call me BJ at times. I agree that your van could be distractive. I would be greatly distracted admiring the lights and wondering, “How did he do that?” We hope you stay safe and get no citations throughout the season.
Merry Christmas.
Great job for stepping up for your Dad. You might want to think about those command hooks instead of tape as they might stay fastened longer. You might be able to enter your vehicle into a parade. We have several running events locally with one being New Year’s Eve that would enjoy having your vehicle to show. Happy Holidays!
PS. As super cool as the car is I love the lights on the house too. I know you did all of those also and it took a lot of work. I am sooooooo proud of you B.J. Kellam!!!!!
Wow, BJ, i acutally understood and learned some new math tricks that will be very helpful…great job. I am certain you could earn extra points in school, 4-H or science club for doing this demonstration. you were very articulate and easy to understand. impressive!
I think your car is great. What a great job! I love the car at night. It really lights up. That would definitely be something I would love to do. I plan to keep this video. What a wonderful job.
Your Christmas Lights Car is awesome! It looks incredible! It’s great to see you spreading Christmas cheer everywhere you go. You can never have too many lights. I hope you and your family have a very Merry Christmas!
This is so awesome! Wish I lived close so I could be watching for your van. Thanks for sharing…I may get inspired next year. P.S. Tell your mom her cookbook is great 🙂
Hi BJ, i think your van lights are awesome, and so fun! It must be a blast to drive it around and make people happy! I think it would be such a fun van to do ding dong ditching in at Christmas, or any kind of Christmas charity work, the kids would just eat it up! Great Job!
What a great way to celebrate Christmas! You are a well-spoken and intelligent young man. I have a feeling that I will someday be saying to myself, “I remember when that guy was decorating his car with Christmas lights and now he is the CEO of a major company!” Good luck- you definitely have a bright future! Merry Christmas to you and your great family!
Hi BJ, Great job on the house and the car. Have you ever thought about putting a wreath on the front grill or back hatch? I live in NY state, just outside of Buffalo and we have many people put some lights on their vehicles, but no where as elaborate as yours, but we tend to have people put wreaths or even small 3-4′ christmas trees on top of their cars and trucks! It’s quite a sight!
You did a GREAT job on the car and the house and I even learned some electricial info that I did not know how to figure out, so Thank you very much,very well done!! Merry Christmas!
B.J., that is so awesome and what a great idea. I’m sure this will go viralwith people asking for more info on how to it. Merry Christmas to you and all your family.
Excellent video. Great explanation of watt and volts and how to figure it all out. I like the what to look out for and the why you will need to do it like this if you have a van with a sliding door.
What a great display. I am sure that you consider yourself fortunate with such a great family. I have learned so much from Dining on a Dime and you in a few minutes gave me a great idea. I would like to see every car put on Christmas lights and every home. May God Bless you and yours this year and a Merry Christmas!
I love it! I am so impressed that a young man would take the time and effort to figure out the power requirements and would be so safety conscious. Way to go!
Thank you BJ….I am smiling and happy at the sight of your Jolly ‘Ol Christmas Van. We must come up with a name for it!! Maybe a contest? Like one of the comments above, I think that you may have a new business here!!! Maybe a kit of some sort? GO BJ!!! I live in California and we decorate boats and have a Christmas float parade up the river and gather in the basin. It is lovely with the lights reflecting in the water. I have always loved to go out and look at the Christmas lights. I never dreamed that the lights would ever come to me!!!! LOL
Last Friday 24 of our church seniors hopped into a van and went to dinner and then out about the town to see the beautiful Christmas lights. We were treated to candy canes, a living nativity and invited into a charming home to see decorations inside. The generosity of strangers is awesome. Thank you for giving this delightful gift to us. This site is special in that way. I have received much love from your mother and grandmother with their great tips and ideas. It is a gift from their home and heart to our home and heart.
My four year old son loves the Christmas car! He keeps asking me if we can do that to our car. I think it’s a very festive and clever idea. We just may be riding around in a four wheeled Christmas tree ourselves next year!
HI, The Christmas car is so cool. I think you have some engineering talents there to design and install this lighting system. What a great idea! Keep up the good work! Betty
I love your instructional video and your car! Our town has a Christmas parade every year, but you have to have lights on your car to participate. I had no idea how to light up my 1969 convertible. Now I know how to do it…and I will be in the parade next year! Thank you!
I am usually an old scrooge at Christmas time, but I must say you gave me some great ideas for my christmas lights suv. That ole gas guzzler can be good for something other than going from A to B. It can give a smile alon the way!! Good Job! And a Happy Christmas to all. Bah Humbug, kinda.
WOW! What a great job! Not only in the designing but in the explanation of the process including the trails and errors. Can’t imagine anyone seeing this on the road and not smiling…what a cool way to spread a little extra cheer!~
What a wonderful idea for sharing the Christmas spirit! I’m very impressed BJ with both the idea and the very easy to follow instructions you gave. Thank you.
Merry Christmas from Guam, (U.S. Territory island in the Pacific Ocean), BJ! A friend from Washington sent me your mom’s newsletter and that’s how I’ve ended up seeing the video about your car. I’m happy she sent me the newsletter. Your mom is helping spread the word about your gift of engineering, physics, math, and all that and I think that’s wonderful! The van is cool! Many blessings on your future, BJ! It’s looking “bright”! Pun intended. 🙂
You have a great gift BJ for figuring things out & giving joy to others. Your instructional video will be very helpful to others. You have a bright future no matter what you do.
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year from Montreal, CANADA.
(I think the red color lights anywhere except the back-end of car is illegal.) There is a parade of decorated semi-trucks in a neighboring town in my state it is really impressive!
It *appears* that where we live the multi-colors are legal as long as the red is not the prevailing color on the front. (as long as it doesn’t look mostly red from the front). Our multi colors have some red but not a lot and have not been a problem here. White should not be used on the back and red should be minimal if on the front. Most of our police don’t react as if they have seen the van at all but a couple have smiled or chuckled. 🙂
We do recommend that you check your local laws before doing it to make sure it’s legal where you live. Apparently, it is not legal in the city of Wichita, Kansas so we unplugged it on the roads when we went there. 😉
I am a electronic technician by trade and I like the lights, but what I like the most was the safety items that you covered and the how to figure the wattage. You really got me when you suggested using
gaffers tape.. You may be young in age but you are very mature in your thought process. Keep up the great work. Bob-T
THANKS FOR THE HELP BJ!!!
We put our Tesla Model S in a XMas lights parade and without your handy video our car would not have turned as awesome!
We will send you pictures soon.
Great Job! I just came across your website while visiting livingonadime.com My hubby and I are retired,living on a fixed income so I really like visiting the livingonadime.com site.
I really really like your idea of the Christmas lights on the car,and think you did a wonderful job however since we live in the outside area of Houston,TX I don’t think could do that to our car without getting pulled over, an possibly ticketed, for being a distraction on the road. In the community we live in we do drive a great deal on golf carts, we go to church, local store, and just ride around with the grand kids. You have inspired me to try and do the came with our golf cart. What fun would that be I know my little grandkids would love it!!! With the new LED lights I bet it would work. Thanks again you did a great job. Also looks like your mom and dad are doing a great job too!
Hey BJ,
Really awesome! Years ago I had a friend who had 12V Christmas lights around the side windows (only in the back) and rear window of his station wagon (mounted inside). They plugged right in the cigarette lighter. I’ve wanted some ever since but never got or made any. My preference would be be more discreet than yours–Only tiny LEDs very close together, only on the insides of the side and back windows and keeping the driver and front passenger windows unlit for safety. And I only want RED and GREEN (colors alternating every other one). There must be a way to string lower voltage LEDs so as to plug direct to 12V power!
Good luck with the Christmas light bidness!
I think your Christmas Lights Car is awesome!
I think I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE having tons of Christmas lights on my house and car!!! Thanks BJ!
I love it! Great work on the video too 🙂
Totally awesome. I can tell you put a lot of work and much thought into. Thanks for doing all of that work so we can get so much pleasure out of them. Too cool. Thanks again and great job.
Awesome lights BJ
Hi BJ,
You don’t know me (your father either by the way, only from Facebook), but we know your mom already for over 20 years. We are from Holland!
I am very impressed about you decorating your van! I have also put 2 pictures on my blog, so you are famous now in Holland and even in Belgium, as I have a lot of readers overthere. http://geldorpjes.wordpress.com/2012/12/03/kerstversiering/
You did an awesome job and its always fun when people react and like it!
Looking forward to next year already.
We wish you from Holland (at this moment actually Gran Canaria) “Merry Chrismas and a very Happy New Year!”
Trees and the rest of the family
This looks so great,BJ! I live in Wichita and a man here did that and was ticketed for being a distraction. Scrooges!!! Merry Christmas to you and your family and keep the spirit!
Incredible!! Good job. Great video and explanation. A mobile light show. If friends and family can’t visit your house and see the lights, then take the lights to them. lol
looks neat and very creative. Could be dangerous though – could cause distraction to other drivers. Unfortunately, if you did that around here, you would almost certainly get pulled over.
Great job young man! You will go far in your endeavors for the future with your perservance and adaptability to overcome challenges and think things through!!
Love the Christmas lights car!!
Howdy from West Texas!!! This is GREAT!!! You do a fine job of explaining, step by step, how you made such a terrific traveling light show! I have been a subscriber to your family’s “Living on a Dime” website for a couple of years now, and cannot begin to tell you how many things I have learned–thanks to all of you for being generous enough to share your hints and tips with others! Merry Christmas to you and your family!!!
Love the idea and the video. You did a great job!
That’s really neat BJ! I wish we could do that on our minivan!
BJ- super job there! House & car look awesome! Thanks for sharing and making our Christmas a little merrier! We are proud of you as a teenager taking the time to make other people’s Christmas much “brighter”! There are probably shut-ins that will take great pleasure in seeing your lights! Thank You!
Hi BJ. My husband and I are in Arkansas. Loved your postings of your Christmas Lights. Wanted you to know also that my loved ones call me BJ at times. I agree that your van could be distractive. I would be greatly distracted admiring the lights and wondering, “How did he do that?” We hope you stay safe and get no citations throughout the season.
Merry Christmas.
I love it, I love it, I love it….the more the merrier…….way to go!!!!! This will be one Christmas moment I will treasure forever……Thanks for sharing!
Wow, that’s awesome!! To see that going down the road would just make me smile! Go get em!
Great job for stepping up for your Dad. You might want to think about those command hooks instead of tape as they might stay fastened longer. You might be able to enter your vehicle into a parade. We have several running events locally with one being New Year’s Eve that would enjoy having your vehicle to show. Happy Holidays!
PS. As super cool as the car is I love the lights on the house too. I know you did all of those also and it took a lot of work. I am sooooooo proud of you B.J. Kellam!!!!!
What fun!!! Makes me want to light up my pickup!! 🙂
Fabulous tutorial, BJ! I’ll bet you could turn this into a business. Great job!
Wow, BJ, i acutally understood and learned some new math tricks that will be very helpful…great job. I am certain you could earn extra points in school, 4-H or science club for doing this demonstration. you were very articulate and easy to understand. impressive!
Great job, BJ! You’ve done a great job of sharing the Christmas spirit with your community. Way to go!!
I think your car is great. What a great job! I love the car at night. It really lights up. That would definitely be something I would love to do. I plan to keep this video. What a wonderful job.
Lori
Your Christmas Lights Car is awesome! It looks incredible! It’s great to see you spreading Christmas cheer everywhere you go. You can never have too many lights. I hope you and your family have a very Merry Christmas!
This is so awesome! Wish I lived close so I could be watching for your van. Thanks for sharing…I may get inspired next year. P.S. Tell your mom her cookbook is great 🙂
Hi BJ, i think your van lights are awesome, and so fun! It must be a blast to drive it around and make people happy! I think it would be such a fun van to do ding dong ditching in at Christmas, or any kind of Christmas charity work, the kids would just eat it up! Great Job!
You are one very smart ingenuous young man. The van looks fearless. I applaud your memorable work. WTG on making it into the parade.
What a great way to celebrate Christmas! You are a well-spoken and intelligent young man. I have a feeling that I will someday be saying to myself, “I remember when that guy was decorating his car with Christmas lights and now he is the CEO of a major company!” Good luck- you definitely have a bright future! Merry Christmas to you and your great family!
Hi BJ, Great job on the house and the car. Have you ever thought about putting a wreath on the front grill or back hatch? I live in NY state, just outside of Buffalo and we have many people put some lights on their vehicles, but no where as elaborate as yours, but we tend to have people put wreaths or even small 3-4′ christmas trees on top of their cars and trucks! It’s quite a sight!
You did a GREAT job on the car and the house and I even learned some electricial info that I did not know how to figure out, so Thank you very much,very well done!! Merry Christmas!
I really like your van all lit up…you did a great job!!!
I think you are an amazing young man to share your talents with the world. Loved the car and your ingenuity.
B.J., that is so awesome and what a great idea. I’m sure this will go viralwith people asking for more info on how to it. Merry Christmas to you and all your family.
BJ,
Excellent video. Great explanation of watt and volts and how to figure it all out. I like the what to look out for and the why you will need to do it like this if you have a van with a sliding door.
merry christmas,
What a great idea. It was well thought out and the video was very informative. Great job!
LOVE IT! Great job!
Love the lights on the car!! It makes me smile to see the car!! And, thank you for sharing how you did it!!
B. J.,
What a great display. I am sure that you consider yourself fortunate with such a great family. I have learned so much from Dining on a Dime and you in a few minutes gave me a great idea. I would like to see every car put on Christmas lights and every home. May God Bless you and yours this year and a Merry Christmas!
Hi BJ. Your car is extremely creative and shows a glimpse of the enterprising man you are! I like it! Blessings!
Awesome job! Showed my sons. Maybe we will try it next year.
You are a pretty smart fellow and your car is awesome. Merry Christmas and Lords Blessings.
I love it! I am so impressed that a young man would take the time and effort to figure out the power requirements and would be so safety conscious. Way to go!
Very Creative! You were also meticulous and thorough in the video,especially with the suction cup back-up system.
Thank you BJ….I am smiling and happy at the sight of your Jolly ‘Ol Christmas Van. We must come up with a name for it!! Maybe a contest? Like one of the comments above, I think that you may have a new business here!!! Maybe a kit of some sort? GO BJ!!! I live in California and we decorate boats and have a Christmas float parade up the river and gather in the basin. It is lovely with the lights reflecting in the water. I have always loved to go out and look at the Christmas lights. I never dreamed that the lights would ever come to me!!!! LOL
Last Friday 24 of our church seniors hopped into a van and went to dinner and then out about the town to see the beautiful Christmas lights. We were treated to candy canes, a living nativity and invited into a charming home to see decorations inside. The generosity of strangers is awesome. Thank you for giving this delightful gift to us. This site is special in that way. I have received much love from your mother and grandmother with their great tips and ideas. It is a gift from their home and heart to our home and heart.
Keep spreading the JOY BJ and God Bless……
great job b.j your family is very talented! have a merry christmas and happy new year.
you did a great job
Very interesting.
The light van is really cool, I would love to see it on the road when I was driving.
That is a fantastic idea. BJ, You did a great job explaining it all in the video. Merry Christmas. 🙂
Wow! I like it! I can’t wait to see what you do next.
I love it! Wish you lived near me so I could see it in action. You’re clever like your parents. And a born teacher. Thanks for sharing.
My four year old son loves the Christmas car! He keeps asking me if we can do that to our car. I think it’s a very festive and clever idea. We just may be riding around in a four wheeled Christmas tree ourselves next year!
What an awesome idea. I absolutely love it! You did an excellent job explaining the whole process. Excellent job BJ!
looks great!
HI, The Christmas car is so cool. I think you have some engineering talents there to design and install this lighting system. What a great idea! Keep up the good work! Betty
I love your instructional video and your car! Our town has a Christmas parade every year, but you have to have lights on your car to participate. I had no idea how to light up my 1969 convertible. Now I know how to do it…and I will be in the parade next year! Thank you!
I am usually an old scrooge at Christmas time, but I must say you gave me some great ideas for my christmas lights suv. That ole gas guzzler can be good for something other than going from A to B. It can give a smile alon the way!! Good Job! And a Happy Christmas to all. Bah Humbug, kinda.
This looks awesome! You certainly know how to spread the Christmas spirit! Great video too and very helpful!
Clever! Smooth video. Make some more ‘How-to’s. God Bless.
WOW! What a great job! Not only in the designing but in the explanation of the process including the trails and errors. Can’t imagine anyone seeing this on the road and not smiling…what a cool way to spread a little extra cheer!~
What a wonderful idea for sharing the Christmas spirit! I’m very impressed BJ with both the idea and the very easy to follow instructions you gave. Thank you.
Merry Christmas from Guam, (U.S. Territory island in the Pacific Ocean), BJ! A friend from Washington sent me your mom’s newsletter and that’s how I’ve ended up seeing the video about your car. I’m happy she sent me the newsletter. Your mom is helping spread the word about your gift of engineering, physics, math, and all that and I think that’s wonderful! The van is cool! Many blessings on your future, BJ! It’s looking “bright”! Pun intended. 🙂
bj way to go that is a great idea and i really love this idea i wish i could do this to my car maybe i just might try it
Wow! What a great job and what a great kid. Happy New Year…looking forward to next years light extravaganza!
You have a great gift BJ for figuring things out & giving joy to others. Your instructional video will be very helpful to others. You have a bright future no matter what you do.
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year from Montreal, CANADA.
(I think the red color lights anywhere except the back-end of car is illegal.) There is a parade of decorated semi-trucks in a neighboring town in my state it is really impressive!
It *appears* that where we live the multi-colors are legal as long as the red is not the prevailing color on the front. (as long as it doesn’t look mostly red from the front). Our multi colors have some red but not a lot and have not been a problem here. White should not be used on the back and red should be minimal if on the front. Most of our police don’t react as if they have seen the van at all but a couple have smiled or chuckled. 🙂
We do recommend that you check your local laws before doing it to make sure it’s legal where you live. Apparently, it is not legal in the city of Wichita, Kansas so we unplugged it on the roads when we went there. 😉
I am a electronic technician by trade and I like the lights, but what I like the most was the safety items that you covered and the how to figure the wattage. You really got me when you suggested using
gaffers tape.. You may be young in age but you are very mature in your thought process. Keep up the great work. Bob-T
Thank you, Bob! I really appreciate your comment and I’m hoping to make it beter this year! -BJ
Hi Bj,
Best resource online! We are doing this tonight for our Xmas parade in Canada tonight. Thanks for the informative video.
THANKS FOR THE HELP BJ!!!
We put our Tesla Model S in a XMas lights parade and without your handy video our car would not have turned as awesome!
We will send you pictures soon.
Sean
Great Job! I just came across your website while visiting livingonadime.com My hubby and I are retired,living on a fixed income so I really like visiting the livingonadime.com site.
I really really like your idea of the Christmas lights on the car,and think you did a wonderful job however since we live in the outside area of Houston,TX I don’t think could do that to our car without getting pulled over, an possibly ticketed, for being a distraction on the road. In the community we live in we do drive a great deal on golf carts, we go to church, local store, and just ride around with the grand kids. You have inspired me to try and do the came with our golf cart. What fun would that be I know my little grandkids would love it!!! With the new LED lights I bet it would work. Thanks again you did a great job. Also looks like your mom and dad are doing a great job too!
BJ, THIS CAR LOOKS BEAUTIFUL I WOULD LOVE TO SEE IT.WHAT A GREAT IDEA.YOU ARE SPREADING HAPPINESS.GOOD FOR YOU!
Hi Donna! Thank you so much! I appreciate your comment! 🙂
Hey BJ,
Really awesome! Years ago I had a friend who had 12V Christmas lights around the side windows (only in the back) and rear window of his station wagon (mounted inside). They plugged right in the cigarette lighter. I’ve wanted some ever since but never got or made any. My preference would be be more discreet than yours–Only tiny LEDs very close together, only on the insides of the side and back windows and keeping the driver and front passenger windows unlit for safety. And I only want RED and GREEN (colors alternating every other one). There must be a way to string lower voltage LEDs so as to plug direct to 12V power!
Good luck with the Christmas light bidness!