A Valentine for Debby

Josh and Debby sitting in a tree K I S S I N G.
My son Joshua wanted to make a valentine present for his girlfriend Debby at Community Living.
So I helped him make a solar powered glow in the dark Valentine.
This is an easy project you can do with your family.

Optical plastic from an LCD monitor, I should have photographed stripping the monitor.
Sparkle paint.
A Picture frame.
Aluminum foil
Cardboard.
Duct tape red for Valentine’s Day.
Double sided tape.
AA battery holder from Radio Shack.
AA rechargeable battery.
Salvaged RGB & W solar garden light.

Utility knife
Scissors
Steel rule
Paint brush & mixing trays
Cutting board
Soldering gun

I had Josh write his message on the back of the Optical Plastic in sparkle paint.

The writing should be in reverse so that it will be forwards when you look at it from the front side of the plastic.

The back of the optical plastic is rough this helps the paint stick and the sparkles light up when the plastic is filled with light.

As Josh is painting I make any repairs to the solar lights needed see Repairing Solar Cells & Making a 1 Watt Solar Array, and attach the AA battery holder.

https://www.instructables.com/id/Repairing-Solar-Cells/
https://www.instructables.com/id/Making-a-1-Watt-Solar-Array/

Once repairs are made test it to make sure it works.
When you cover the solar cell the light should go on and when you uncover the solar cell the light should go off.

This garden light has a switch to change from a white LED to a RBG LED, test the switch in both positions and make sure both LEDs work properly.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sem8zHwz_PE&feature=youtu.be

Start by cutting two 1 inch squares of duct tape and two ½ inch squares of aluminum foil; place the aluminum on the sticky side of the duct tape shinny side out.

Tape the refractive sheets to the back of the optical plastic then attach the LEDs to the edge of the optical plastic with the tape squares with the aluminum foil so that the foil will reflect the light from the LEDs into the optical plastic.

To mount the optical plastic in the picture frame place it in the picture frame and center it by trimming cardboard and placing the cardboard around the edges of the optical plastic.

Once you have the optical plastic centered tape it in place with the red duct tape.

With the two sided tape attach the battery holder solar cell and switch to the back of the picture frame and cover the wires with more duct tape.

Cut a piece of cardboard 12 inches wide and 3 to 4 inches shorter than the picture frame, fold it in three equal sections and tape the edges together.

With the two sided tape attach the stand 1 inch up from the bottom of the picture frame on the back of the picture frame and finish with a couple pieces of red duct tape.

Place the Valentine in a window facing the sun with the back pointing out the window.
When the sun comes up it charges the battery and turns off the LEDs.
At night the LEDs come on and the battery discharges.