Glowing Garland (Featuring Chibitronics)

In this tutorial, I’ll show you how make glowing garland (yes, garland that lights up) with a little help from Circuit Sticker LEDs and conductive fabric tape! While this project may look complicated, it's easy enough for a child to do with adult supervision.

NOTE: a Chibitronics Craft with Light Kit, which comes in either white or assorted colors, contains the electrical components required for a glowing garland with up to six Circuit Sticker LEDs. For a more ambitious project, you can buy the supplies separately.

• Chibitronics Circuit Sticker LEDs (1 per flag)
• Conductive Fabric Tape
• CR2032 or CR 2016 Coin Cell battery (1-2 per strand of garland)

NOTE: the number of batteries you'll need will vary, depending upon the length, number of LEDs, color combination, & brightness desired.

• Paper of varying colors and weights (white copy paper works well)
• 1/4″ ribbon for the power/ ground rail
• 1/2″ – 1″ ribbon for the LED Light Strips (flag supports)
• Glue Stick
• Scotch tape
• Scissors
• Pencil
• Ruler

Optional:

• A lighter or matches (useful for melting frayed ribbon ends)
• A home fabrication tool such as a Cricut or Silhouette (useful for cutting shapes)
• Art supplies of your choice
• Small binder clips (useful for holding a battery in place)

Before diving in, it’s often helpful to brainstorm a theme for your garland and take time to imagine what it might look like when the lights are turned off as well as turned on.

Think about Location

Where will you be hanging your glowing garland? Will it be taped to a window or tacked to a wall? 

Think about Length

How long do you want your strand/ strands to be? Would you rather have one long one or several smaller ones?

Think about Color

How might you use paper and light to compliment one another? Will you rely upon the LEDs to add color, or take advantage of different colored papers?

Think about Shape

What shapes will work best for your flags, considering that they will need to conceal a circuit? Do you want to repeat a shape or mix and match them? 

Think about Size

Do you want all of your flags to be the same size, or would you prefer a little variation?  

Think about Backlighting

How can you take advantage of opportunities to use backlighting to add surprise elements to your flags that may only be viewed when the lights are turned on? Is there a secret message you wish to convey?

Before settling upon a shape for your flags, experiment with different paper and shapes to get a feel for what works best for you!  

The first shape that I tried was a white text weight triangle (4” wide at the hinge and 6” long from hinge to tip). I chose this shape because I wanted my flags to be wide enough at the top to glue on a paper snowflake, and long enough to accommodate two LEDs underneath, so that I could hide a secret message near their tips.

I used the “mirror” feature on a Cricut machine to cut out the letters, “Let it Snow,” allowing me to adhere them to the inside of the top layer of the flags. That way, the letters would be correctly oriented and visible with backlighting.

While I really liked the length, and the large amount of surface area that I had to work with, I learned that the 4” wide triangle tops were a bit too wide to drape well over the power/ground rail I’d constructed. As a result, I ended up needing to extend the length of my ribbon on both sides to allow it to curve more. Another solution would have been to create a new set of flags with narrower tops.  

The next shape I tried was a brown craft paper rectangle (3” wide at the hinge and 2 ¾” long from hinge to base). I liked this shape, because it was easy to cut. To add variety, I placed smaller (2” W X 2 ¾” H), white text weight rectangles between them. Once again, I experimented with hiding an image on some of the inside flaps.

I also experimented with hearts, which required some gluing near the top in order to prevent the circuit from peeking through.

For my power/ ground rails, I used a ¼” satin ribbon. While prototyping, I discovered that a thicker ribbon does not drape well.

Because the garland needs to be thin enough to curve when it’s displayed, you’ll be using both sides to construct your power and ground rails.  

Your ribbon needs to be long enough to accommodate all of your flags, while leaving enough room to hang the garland with some curve. Please remember to account for a few extra inches of ribbon on both ends that will not have any conductive material on them. The example in the photo above ended up being too short, so I had to extend the ribbon on both ends with a piece of tape.

To help determine how much ribbon you’ll need for your power/ ground rail, It’s helpful to position your flags loosely upon the ribbon to determine where the circuit should begin (where you want to see your first LED) and end (where the battery will be located).

Once you know how long you need your power/ground rails to be, apply conductive fabric tape to both sides of the ribbon. It’s helpful to leave a one inch tail of conductive fabric tape for the battery holder (although you can always add it later). I found that placing my work upon a piece of cardboard, and taping the ends of the ribbon down worked well for the next step.

Note: If you want for your glowing garland to be more easily reusable from year to year, it’s a good idea to singe the raw edges of your ribbons to keep them from fraying, before you add the conductive fabric tape. This includes the power/ ground rail ribbon and the LED strips that will attach to it. This should only be done by an adult or under adult supervision.

Once your power/ ground rails are complete, it’s time to prep the LED strips/ flag supports that will be concealed underneath your flags. The LED strips are pieces of ribbon that will attach to the power/ ground rail and allow you to complete the circuit and add Circuit Sticker LEDs. They will support and be concealed by your flags.

While it’s possible to use a 1” thick ribbon for the LED strips, I found that a ½” ribbon worked better for shapes that taper at the bottom. Originally, I used strips of paper for the LED strips. I switched to ribbon, because I found it draped better, didn’t hold unintentional creases, and was easier to reposition or change out the LEDs. Cut as many LED strips as you need.

Each of the LED strips, when added to the power/ ground rail, will form a parallel circuit. 

The advantage of this design is that you’ll only need one or two coin cell batteries to power each completed garland strand. The number and color of LEDs and the length of your power/ground rail will be the determining factor. While I was able to light up my entire heart garland with a single battery, using two resulted in the brighter effect that I preferred.

Once your ribbons have been cut and singed, create the positive leads by adhering a piece of conductive fabric tape along the left side of each ribbon, leaving about ⅛” tab peeking over the ribbon’s top edge, which will allow you to easily connect it to the power rail. 

Repeat this process for the negative traces, leaving enough space between them and the positive traces to add a Circuit Sticker LED (you may use a template to guide your spacing). Once again, leave a ⅛” tab peeking over the ribbon’s top edge.  

Starting at the center of your power/ ground rail, begin adding the LED strips one at a time by adhering the negative tabs to the back side of the ribbon and reinforcing them with a piece of conductive fabric tape.  

Secure the negative tabs to the ground rail (the back side of the ribbon) with a piece of conductive fabric tape. You might find it helpful to bend the positive trace down out of the way when adding the LED strips to the ground rail.

Add Circuit Sticker LEDs in colors of your choice.

To test the circuit, add a battery to the right side of the power/ ground rail and ensure that the Circuit Sticker LEDs shine the way you want them to behind your flags. If any of the LED strands fail to light up, or appear to flicker, press down on each of the contact points, adding reinforcements of conductive fabric tape if needed. Also ensure that the Circuit Sticker LEDs have been adhered correctly. If your circuit doesn’t glow as brightly as you like, which can happen with very long circuits or old batteries, you may need to add a second battery.

One way to hold your battery in place is to use a ball of conductive tape to secure the negative side of the battery to the back side of the ground rail, wrapping the flap of positive tape around to the positive side. An advantage of using this method is that it’s quick and discrete. A disadvantage is that you’d need to detach the conductive tape to disconnect the battery, and use a fresh piece of conductive tape to reconnect the battery each time.

A second way is to use a piece of folded paper held together with a small binder clip (see video, more explanation needed). An advantage of this method is the ability to quickly switch the circuit on or off by clipping or unclipping. A disadvantage is that the clip may protrude somewhat from the surface it’s hanging upon. This style of battery holder needs to have insulating bridges added with Scotch tape, to prevent the positive and negative leads from touching.

While adding the flags to the circuit portion of the garland, I found that adding a ball of Scotch tape to the underside of the LED strands is a good way to keep the flags from shifting. I also use a small ball of Scotch tape to secure the openings of each flag.

No matter which method you’ve chosen for holding your battery in place, it’s a good idea to tape a decorative element over the battery to make it blend in with the rest of your garland.