Settings for Outdoor Christmas Lights?

I have a Nikon D3000. I was just wondering which settings I should use to get the best outdoor christmas light pictures. It will be dark when I go and I only have the standard lens that came with the camera. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

It can be all over the place. Check out some of my Christmas lighting photos here:

If you read the captions, I think I have all of my settings there. See if they make any sense to you.

If you can't figure out a reading, try this…

ISO 1600
f/3.5
1/15
TRIPOD!

If you zoom in more than 18mm, you will end up with a smaller f-stop (higher number) and you will have to use a slower shutter speed, like 1/8.

Take a couple of pictures at those settings and look at the LCD to see if you need an even slower shutter speed.