There's nothing more to it than that. If I can make something myself rather than buying it, then I will... Especially if I can make it better and cheaper than something commercial.
This was my dilemma: I have about 80+ paper lanterns in all sizes to use for my reception but I would like to have them lit up. I think the photo ops with them lit will be SPECTACULAR!
Problem 1: Proper LED lights for lanterns are ridiculously expensive, even the battery operated ones.
Problem 2: The battery operated ones say "up to 8 hours use". That's not going to work for us because we're setting the hall up the night before. Even if we had someone who was able to turn them all on for us, they'd need a ladder and everything will be decorated by that time...What a pain in the ass!
Problem 3: Even at 8 hours of use, I don't want the lights going out before the guests go home!
I started searching online, but didn't really find any other solution for this until I came across "throwies". My inner nerd screamed! Here's the description of a throwie.
It's worth a try! Surely I can doctor this into lighting my lanterns!!! I ordered 100 bright white LEDs from eBay for about $1.50. That's more in my price range! I had a CR2032 laying around the house, probably from when the kids had Tamagotchis, so I taped the bulb to the battery... Nothing. Then Lance told me that I had to turn it around. I guess even those cute little LEDs have poles. Lol. I turned the little bugger around, and it lit up like a sonofabitch!Throwie: An LED light taped to a 2032 3volt lithium battery and a high powered magnet.
Used as a form of graffiti."Hey, I made some throwies last night, wanna go throw 'em at something magnetic?"
I was a little skeptical about how long it would last, so I stuck it on my memo board next to the date "Jan 1st, 2015".
I was excited to get up the next morning and see if it was still lit up. I ran out to the dining room and "thar she glows!" I got up the following morning... Still glowing. After about a five days, I wasn't checking on it so much. It slowly started to dim after about a week. Now it's March 13th, and it's still working, but not very bright at all. But whatever... I just need them to be bright for 48 hours!
Now that I know that they work, I have plans. I'm ordering 100 CR2032 from eBay... They're about $18/100. That's going to work out to about $0.20 per light!
 |
| This is an 18" lantern after I sanded it down. I'll need two LEDs for the bigger lanterns, but it gives off such a pretty light! |
I might even light my lightbulbs with them! They're so pretty!!! I used two laser pointer batteries for this one, and I sanded the bulb down with a nail file as the light was a bit harsh. It made a huge difference!
 |
| My lightbulb vases. These will be hanging off my curly willow centerpieces, and now they'll be delightfully lit up!!! |
No comments:
Post a Comment