Press sticky hooks across your ceiling, spacing them about 1 foot apart in staggered rows. These hooks come in many styles and are available at your local hardware store. Choose hooks with deep curves.
Slip the wires of your twinkle lights into the hooks, zig-zagging them across your ceiling. Large outdoor bulbs offer more light and more of an effect than smaller lights.
Plug a strobe light adapter box, available at party supply stores, into a wall outlet. Plug the end of the last string of lights into the adapter box.
Set the timer on the strobe light . Turn the dial to cause the lights to flash brightly every minute, every few minutes or every couple of seconds.
Hold a 2 foot by 3 foot aluminum sheet between your hand so it hangs down in front of you. Shake the sheet rapidly forward and backward so it makes a loud, rippling, banging sound similar to thunder.
Record the thunder sound with a good-quality tape recorder, spacing your shakes as you spaced your strobe lights. For instance, if you timed two minutes between each strobe flash, wait two minutes between each thunder clap.
Put the tape into a small stereo and turn the volume all the way up. Turn out all of the lights. The twinkle lights should be "off," with the strobe adapter turned on and ready to make them flash.
Turn on the stereo and let the lighting show begin.