Chibitronics Glowing Candle

Here's a simple project to get you started with Chibitronics - electronic stickers that let users build simple, creative circuits that also look cool!

In this Instructable, we'll be combining Chibitronics with some more traditional art, creating a 2-D candle that flickers and glows just like the real thing.

To make this sign, you will need:

• Conductive copper tape
• LED stickers
• One Chibitronics "Twinkle" effect sticker
• One 3V battery
• Two sheets of construction paper
• Markers or colored pencils
• Binder clip

Draw a candle using your markers or colored pencils on one of the sheets of paper. It can look however you'd like, just make sure the flame is large enough to cover one LED sticker.

To make things easier, you can print out a picture of a candle to use.

On the second sheet of paper, sketch a template for your circuit so you can easily add the components. There are three parts you must take into consideration when creating your template:

• The battery
• The LED sticker
• The effects sticker

The battery will need to be able to come in contact with copper tape on both its negative and positive sides. In addition, the LED will need to connect to the negative pad and the signal pad of the effect sticker so that it will twinkle, as well as being oriented so that it is under the flame of your candle when you lay the candle sheet on top of the circuit sheet.

Your template may look something like the one shown above.

Following the template you made in the previous step, add copper tape to your circuit sheet. Remember, some copper tape is only conductive on the non-sticky side, so if you have to turn sharp corners with it, use the following procedure:

• Fold your copper tape away from the direction you want it to go, sticky side up.
• Fold your tape back over itself in the desired direction.
• Flatten the corner.

If you need to connect two pieces of tape, use the following procedure:

• Fold the end of one of the pieces of tape over so the non-sticky copper is visible on both sides.
• Tape the folded-over end onto the other piece of conductive tape using regular adhesive tape.

Now it's time to add stickers to your circuit! Remember to place them so that their conductive pads contact the copper tape you laid down, and to stick them down securely to ensure a good connection. Your circuit should look something like the one above.

Connect the battery by folding the edge of the paper over it so your positive and negative tape ends are both touching the battery. Make sure that you have the negative side of the battery touching the negative tape path, and the positive side touching the positive tape path. You can secure the battery and ensure a good connection by clipping a binder clip over the folded corner, as shown above.

Tape or glue your candle sheet down over your circuit sheet, leaving the corner clipped over the battery free. You're done!

With some resizing, this project makes a nice greeting or holiday card.