Well, you DID say a Christmas tree, and the style for several decades now has been to adorn Christmas trees with lights. I was about to say you should have said that so we could start laughing earlier, but the joke's on us. EDIT: That is, laugh at the sight of multiple wiring strands twisting around the tree, or untwisting from it....

My SO dragged out some fairy lights yesterday and lit 'em up. They are a string of white LEDs, maybe ten feet long, that run off three AA cells. That could be the starting point of a pretty good tree lighting scenario, but it will be a PITA to assemble, turn on and off, and service if anything goes wrong. But that WOULD take care of the lighting problem.

If you go with 120V lights on the tree, be sure you get UL approval on the slip rings.

It's too bad they don't have everything on display- I could go there to look because the store is only about 10 miles from here.

FYI- if you ever need rubber chickens, they usually have them.

They also have this-

[Link: sciplus.com]

Ernie, I found "fairy lights" at a garden center with a six hour timer box that works great for indoor and outdoor applications...

Do they have neoprene? I'm concerned about rubber allergies.

No, it's not Neoprene- it gets gooey when it's near vinyl and solvents.