Glowstick Shenanigans - Crowns and Goggles

Background:

This is another one of my early project from when I still beginning with DIY, back from around 2010.

Again, pictures were made with what I had available at the time, mostly my N97 cellphone camera with first pictures being shot with my then-aqcuired Samsung WB2000.

Many of you probably know the fun kids and, let's admit it, young adults have with glowsticks. When worn around the wrist they are especially useful for locating your friends at any darker venue, but this can get harder if your group is not the only one using them.

This combined with a long-standing promise I have with an online friend led to the creation of my simple glowstick connectors which, for instance, allow you to make crowns and silly goggles.

Goal:

Make cheap, easy and versatile adapters which can be used to connect glowsticks into any kinds of shapes, the focus being crowns and goggles.

Safety Advice:

This instructable uses cutter knives and crazy glue.

Always cut away from yourself, keep your fingers out of the blades' path and be careful with the crazy glue to prevent your fingers from sticking together. You can use latex gloves or similar to prevent this.

Tools:

• Scissors
• Cutter Knife
• Ruler (optional)
• Third

Materials:

• Glowsticks
• Tube (inner diameter slightly smaller than diameter of glowsticks so that they fit snuggly)
• Tube (inner diameter slightly bigger than diameter of glowsticks so that they can slide through)
• Super / Crazy Glue (I use Pattex Ultra Gel as it holds well while staying flexible)

You can find the tubing at the garden section of your hardware store, at a fishkeeping shop, at pet shops or even shops where you can get car/motorcycle parts (fuel/oil tubes).

Depending on your application, you will need to connect different pieces of tubing to each other.

For that, use your cutter knife to carefully cut a small V-groove into the tube that is to be orthogonally connected.

For the crown you will mostly need H-pieces, for the goggles mostly T- and K-pieces.

Keep in mind that you have two different types of tube at your disposal and think about where to use which type.

First apply a small amount of glue to the edges of the V-groove you cut, then press the pieces together and hold them for a couple of seconds.

You can use a contraption like the "third hand" to help let your pieces dry without toughing the table or anything else.

Once the first layer of glue is dry, apply another layer of glue around the complete joint for good measure (see picture 2).

For the crown we are going to need two different type of connectors as pictured in picture #3.

The pictures one consists completely out of the thin tube, so that it will sit snug; that's type one.

For type two connector all you need to do is use the thick tube for the horizontal pieces. The reason for this is that you want another connector for the top part of the crown, but sliding on the thin tube ones is too much work, so instead you use thick tube to make it easier.

These are the connectors you use for the pictured crown.

The top row's horizontal and middle tubes are made from the thick tube while the two little connectors on top are made from thin tube. This type of connector has previously been named 'type two'.

Type one connectors are the bottom row, they are completely made from the thin tubes.

To assemble the crown, take two glowsticks and secure them with the horizontal tube of the type one connector. Next, slide on a type two connector and close with a type one connector.

Use two more glowsticks to either close the ring of the crown, or expand it further. For adults a ring of three glowsticks usually fits, for kids two should do the trick.

Finally, once the ring is closed, use more glowsticks to make arcs by connecting the upper left tube of one connector with the upper right tube of the connector left of it. Continue until no more free slots are available.

Naturally, all kinds of variations are possible, and they're half the fun of it.

For other types of connectors, use your imagination or look for inspiration by taking a closer look at the pictures of the introduction of this instructable.