Mystical Pumpkin Night Lamp With Articulated Wings.

Hello there, mate...! Once again, we meet with another exciting project.

In this instructable, I'll walk you through the steps I took to create this magical night lamp. 

So, what are you waiting for?

Let's make this funky little night lamp.

Materials needed for the build :

• Plastic sheets[office files/book covers/etc...].
• 0.65mm Badminton string.
• Air drying clay.
• Acrylic paint.
• Glass jar.
• LEDs.
• Armature Wires.
• Heat shrink tubes.
• Threads.
• Disposable Black Mask.
• Screws.
• Rubber Adhesive.
• One elastic thread from an elastic strap.
• Refill of a pen.
• Nylon thread.
• Cotton swabs.
• Aluminum L bar.
• Cardboard Roll.
• Polystyrene.

Materials needed for the circuit :

• 1k Potentiometer with on/off switch.
• LEDs.
• Resistors[220 ohm for Blue, Green, Yellow / 330 ohm for Red].
• LM317 IC.
• 2*1N007 Diode.
• 2*50V 1000uf Electrolyte Capacitor.
• 1*50V 10uf Electrolyte Capacitor.
• 104 ceramic capacitor.
• 9 volt Battery.
• Wires.

Tools Required :

• Sculpting Tools.
• Pliers.
• Screwdriver.
• Hacksaw.
• Soldering iron.
• Glue Gun.
• Tweezers.
• Craft Knife.
• Sandpaper.
• Kerosene lamp / Candle.

First, we'll construct the wing mechanism. On the plastic sheet [Office files, book covers, etc. are possible sources for the sheet.] , the mechanism's components are drawn, and the patterns are then cut out with the help of a scissor. An improvised soldering iron-safety pin attachment is used to poke the holes.

Individual sections of the mechanism are connected with reference to the template. The 0.65 mm badminton string is fused with a kerosene lamp flame to create the joints.

Now the linked parts are to be joined with the base plate. To keep the pieces from snagging, spacings are given using pieces cut from a cotton swab as shown in the images.

In order to guide the actuating thread, a pen refill is made as seen in the image and fastened to the base plate with the help of screws.

As indicated in the photographs, an elastic string is extracted from an elastic band and is fastened to the mechanism. To attach the mechanism, we will utilize the cap section of a pen body [Ideally cylindrical in shape.] . This facilitates disassembly in the event of a failure. Now the whole setup is mounted on to the pen body.

The unwanted sections of the caps have now been trimmed with help of an hacksaw, and the nylon thread for controlling the mechanism has been tied in place.

We'll need some form of support structure to anchor the device to the glass bottle. In order to accomplish this, we will fix an armature wire to the structure using air dry clay.

We will be using glue gun to make the mushrooms. Firstly we will chop of the top portion of the led to diffuse the light.

A disc is cut out from cardboard, and a led is placed on the sheet. Assuring the mushroom's profile, the glue is now poured over the sheet. Once the glue has dried, peel off the sheet and paint the mushroom.

The pumpkin's body is made of polystyrene and is glued to the mechanism as shown in the photographs.

Pick a glass jar that will work for the build. The potentiometer is secured to an aluminum L-bar, and the whole setup is fastened to the lid of the jar with the aid of armature wires and screws as shown in the images.

Tubes salvaged from a cotton swab are formed to the desired shape and is mounted to the set-up to guide the actuating nylon thread and wires for led connections. The actuating nylon thread was drawn in with the aid of a wire [Last three images].

After soldering the appropriate resistors into the LEDs [330 ohm- RED /220 ohm- remaining], they are enclosed with heat shrink tubing. Now the LEDs are connected in parallels and is then glued onto the lid, which is then covered roughly with a layer of clay.

Small lumps of clay are first fixed to the setup and then sculpted into the required shape using the sculpting tools.

After sketching the features of the face onto the body, it is cut out with a blade, as depicted in the photographs.

LEDs for the face are bent into the required shape and then soldered. To attach the soldered LED configuration to the body, holes are made for the LEDs to fit in. The cutout piece of the face is then glued to the body with white glue.

The polystyrene body is covered with air-dry clay that has been rolled out. After which the details are sculpted onto it. A cardboard sheet is used as a guide for the hat portion, which is then covered with rolled out clay. Once the clay has dried slightly, the cardboard sheet is removed.

The wings are cut out of a disposable black mask with the help of a paper template. Once the cutouts are made, a pair of them are glued at the edges using a rubber-based adhesive, as shown in the images. Now these are glued on to the mechanism with the help of the same adhesive.

We'll need small wires to connect the LEDs in the pumpkin. So that it may be pulled freely via the guiding tubes. An earphone cable's wires are ideal for this purpose.

Solder the components in accordance with the circuit that is attached. I've used a non-rechargeable battery in this instance. A rechargeable one would be preferable, and the circuit should be adjusted accordingly.

A cardboard roll is used to create the lamp's base, which is glued to the lid with the aid of air-drying clay.

We'll fashion the lamp's base to resemble a tree trunk. The surface features of the tree trunk are now generated using a glue gun, as illustrated in the photographs. The pumpkin's face characteristics are likewise filled with glue. The glued elements are trimmed and sharpened using a craft knife.

The tree trunk frame is now covered with rolled out clay. Sculpting tools are used to shape the ridges and curves of the tree trunk, as shown in the photographs.

Acrylic paint is used to paint the sculpture. To make the color stand out, the setup is first coated with a white base coat. Paint it in the style of your choice.

The pumpkin's face is painted after masking out the features with masking tape.

We'll now remove the masking tape and clean the paint markings with a craft knife. The pumpkin and mushroom heads will then be placed in the appropriate positions.

Once everything is put together, we can screw in the glass jar. I first considered building a cover out of plastic sheet or cardboard, then screwing it in place to seal the lamp's base. Fortunately, I was able to seal up the lamp's base by using an ice cream carton's lid that was lying around.

Making sure that the potentiometer is in the off position, wind the thread firmly onto the shaft and cap it in place with the knob.

Our lamp is now ready for action.

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Thank you for taking the time to read it!