3D Printed LED Valentines Day Sign

As someone who loves designing gifts for people, I decided to create another LED Sign for my Valentines. This Instructable is a personalized one, so I don't expect anyone to use the same exact steps as this, but you will get the idea of the project and the process behind it. I suggest watching the video before diving in just to get a full rundown of the project.

EL Wire(any color), 3D Printer(Ender 3d for the largest print bed), Paper Printer(photo paper for best results), Speaker Wire (22/24 gauge), Battery Terminals, Small screws (8mm x 4), Hot Glue, Tactile Push Button.

Est Hours: 15 hours printing, 8 hours soldering/designing/creating

Since my design was heart themed, I wanted to make everything revolve around the shape. I first started out with a heart shaped for the enclosure. I needed to make sure the sign was big enough to hold 2 AA batteries. I could also design this to use 2 AAA batteries or even 2 Single Cell batteries if the sign needed to be smaller. I was able to curve the batteries around the heart using the angle that I set the Battery Terminals at.

The black circles represent where the battery terminals should be placed. The arrows showcase that the batteries will sit in here while getting split with a battery terminal.

I have attached all of the files I used for the 3D print but removed the initials. Feel free to add your own initials and connect them to the small heart on the inside and the inside of the bigger heart for more support.

I also have created a small enclosure for the EL Wire motherboard. Disassemble the black casing that you get with the product and the motherboard will be placed in here.

Many of these wires polarity can be found using a multimeter. The switch has two wires going to it which connects the signal. Depending on the LED used to light up the image from behind, you may have to calculate and come up with a resistor value to attach inline with the LED. Make sure the two AA batteries are in series to boost the voltage from 1.5 volts to 3 volts which is a stable voltage for the component. There are tunnels and holes throughout the project for the wiring. I added an extra LED that will sit behind the printed picture to illuminate it in the dark better.

For this process, my sister was able to help me animate a picture. The original picture was taken a while ago and we imported into photoshop/illustrator and created a second layer over the image and drew on the colors we saw fit. There's no exact science to this process and may be a little difficult. I struggle with my artistic talent so my sister was able to help me with this. Her setup included a digital Pen and Tablet which may come in handy, but not necessary.

Once this picture is made, print it on a printer using glossy picture paper for best results. It makes it more shiny with the EL wire and the LED behind it also lights it up more.

For this stage, we are just adding the few components together. Glue the LED on the backing of the heart. Next, glue the Picture on the thin framing that goes on the inside of the heart. I used tacky glue to glue the image on because hot glue would destroy it. Then, glue down the framing from the back to make sure it does not move. Now, Hot Glue the EL wire from the front of the project on the framing to outline the image. Once this is done we are able to glue the backing of the project on.

I hope you all enjoyed this project and can use it later down the road! Remember, this does not have to be specific for Valentines Day. For example, we could make a Bat for Halloween with green EL Wire outlining the bat. I hope this project inspires you all. Thank you for your time and let me know any comments, questions below and if you tried this yourself :)