This is my entry to the Make my sign competition. This is a simple fairy light box for Bambulab's generic ‘Santa Stop here’ sign, which can be adapted to your design or use the many great submissions from other creators.
It is important that the original dimensions are used 140mm x 96.79mm.
The light box uses a very cheap set of led fairy lights, which are plentiful on Amazon, ebay or discount stores. Feel free to remix to fit any random battery holder sizes.
I wanted the light box to be as follows:
Instructions: -
2. Weave the lights around the edges using the posts to secure the wiring. Ensure you weave through every post to keep the wire taught and close to the wall. Once you have gone once around, if the next bulb is in the same place as the first, simple wrap around the posts until the bulb is off set. Do the same if you find a bulb that is out of place or fouling at a post. If this is the case, simply go back to the last post and wrap the wire around and continue. It sounds complex, but you will see that it is very easy to do, the LED wiring is very forgiving. You can see in the picture here that the wire has been wrapped around a post to space out the bulbs. You want the wiring to be as close as possible to the wall as you'll need to slide the cover over later. Take your time here, it can be a little fiddly, but making it neat is key. There are plenty of internal posts and gaps under the battery to route the cable.
3. If you are using white or clear material to allow the light to project into the sign, do not use the entire length of LED's around the edge, instead, start to route inside. The are posts as well as an area under the battery to feed the bulbs into. It is recommended to put at least 1 bulb under the battery to help spread the light. Wrap around the posts and throughout the process, try and turn the bulbs towards to face the direction you want. If you choose the black LED plate, just continue around the edges as no internal bulbs are required.
4. After wrapping the final bulb, turn the battery pack on and reposition any bulbs now.
5. Add the feet onto the back plate. The longer length must go to the back.
6. Add the now complete LED plate over the back plate. make sure any protruding bulbs are pushed in so they don't get snagged. Take your time and go around the edge to ensure no snagging. There is a peg in the middle, which the plate pushes into to secure, do not force it, it just needs to slide over snug. You will see that the the edges between to the two plates is not flush. This was by choice as it may be necessary to remove the back a few times (poke your finger in the switch hole at the back to remove). I tried several designs to ‘lock’ the plate, but due to limitations with weaknesses at layer lines and difficulty removing some types of attachment, I decided that ease of removal was better than any gap between the parts, which ultimately just lets light out anyway. The slot in the back plate allows easy access to the switch. Try the lights now.
7. Add your favorite sign, which should sit on the small shelf protruding from the bottom, display 😊.
8. If you wish to hang this on a wall, there is a hole in the back to help with this. Do not add the feet. You will also need to use double sided tape or glue your sign onto the LED panel as it will probably fall off.
I have included my Makerlab design ‘Elves welcome’ sign. You can change the colours as you wish. Or design your own sign! Enjoy!