Does anyone have any ideas on how to make X-mas lights hanging on a boat. I'm going to a boat light parade and wanted to make a boat with Christmas lights. I've got the boat part down but not the lights. Any ideas/help would be greatly appreciated!

Delia

royal icing maybe?

I would try making the rope for the lights of fine floral wire with gumpaste in your color of choice and then use royal icing with silver luster dust for the light casings and then royal icing in colors of your choice for the bulbs. I'd make the wire first and attatch to the cake while still a little pliable so you can get it where you want it. Then I'd add the casings and paint them with the silver (probably mix it with alcohol, you wouldn't want the dust to go onto the cake) and once that's dry I'd do the bulbs. This is the method I'll be trying shortly! Best way I can think of. Definitely open to hearing what others have for suggestions though!

I made some of the old style big lights just last week. They might be a little big for what you are going for but I used mmf and shaped them into a teardrop shape and the painted mini marshmallows with black food coloring and vodka and attached together. for the cord i just made a rope out of black fondant. They are on my presents cake in my album.
Just a little funny thing, one of the other wives wanted to eat a light... i said ok and before I could tell her to not eat the marshmallow she does and them has black teeth all night... LOL. It was pretty funny cuz she is one of thost PITA ppl anyways... HAHA

HTH

Thanks for the suggestions. This gives me some ideas to try out.

You could use candies.
Jimmies would make very small light bulbs. Mike-and-Ikes are a much larger size.

I bought some Christmas Bulb shapped sprinkes through CK Products, item #78-5212 Multi Tree Lights. They are all different colors, don't know if you have time to order any though.

I'd use jelly beans as light bulbs with a fondant wire.

It all just depends on the size you need. How big do you want the bulbs? I've made pressed-sugar bulbs for quite large ones, but never would try to make them for something tiny.

They've also got strings of little LED Christmas lights at Walmart for $6, that are battery operated. They would look great on a cake.

Or just old fashioned string licorice. You can luster dust it or whatever you want. It's edible and no wire!

I was going to do x-mas lights on a cake I just made, but I didn't because there was too much going on on the cake as it was, but when I was planning to do the lights, I was going to do the string part doing the rope border with a round tip using buttercream, and the light bulbs using a bigger round tip, shaping them as light bulbs of course. IMHO I think that would also be a good way to make them, but then again it depends on what you want to use on your cake, right?

I've done a black royal icing line with fondant "lights". It worked well.

there are these candies-god im trying to remember what they are called. maybe somebody here knows. they are small square shaped. kinda like a hard gummy in different colors. like a ju-ju bee candy. i think thats what they are called. and they resemble the LED style lights. they are light colored and i think would work well as christmas lights.
just a thought!

What about a string of fondant or gumpaste made from an extruder and the bulbs made from fondant. The ones I've seen on CC are so cute.