How to Make a Movie Theater Poster Frame

Create your own movie theater style poster frame!

Watch this video instead of the written tutorial, or use it to see the steps performed while following along!

Parts:

Poster Frame

Power Adapter

Switch

LEDs

12v Power Supply

Spacers

Super Glue

Wire

Heat Shrink Tubing

Tools:

Drill

Soldering Tools

Knife

We're going to recess the switch and power adapter into the frame. I was without carving tools, so I drilled a series of holes and carved the frame with a knife instead. I kept test fitting the part and then carving out the shape until it fit properly.

Cut 4 strips of LEDs down to the length of each side. Use the tape on the back to apply it to the frame.

To power the LEDs, we're going to use the simple switch circuit in the diagram. Starting with the power adapter, solder a wire to the positive lead and another to the negative lead and cover the connections with heat shrink tubing. Then, cut another piece of the heat shrink tubing and place it over the positive wire. Solder the positive wire from the power adapter to the center lead of the switch and cover the connection. Lastly, solder another wire to either of the 2 remaining switch leads and again, cover the connection.

With the circuit finished, it can be placed into the frame. I used super glue to hold the switch in place, but the power adapter was able to fit with tension.

Tin the leads on the LED strip and then solder the loose wires on to them. With LEDs I used, the positive lead was on the side with the resistors.

Solder the other LED strips together with wire in the other 3 corners. Be sure to pay attention to the polarity of the LEDs. I accidentally applied the LEDs backwards on one side and had to cross the wires.

The bag of spacers I used had multiple width spacers, so I picked out 4 that were the same size and super glued them to all 4 of the corners of the frame. The spacers I used were about 7mm thick.

Hang your poster frame and plug it in!