My initial thought was to encase the entire bundle in electrical tape, but it was a bad idea. It made the entire thing too rigid and tough to deal with. I ended up taping the bundle every foot or so to keep the thing together and as tangle free as possible. Even that was dumb. Just using zip-ties worked best.
a much easier alternative is to use glow-in-the-dark stars you affix to the ceiling with poster glue. or just straight glow-in-the-dark paint. you'll get the star effect for awhile, then they'll gently fade as you fall asleep.