Our Love Continues to Glow

COVID has forced us to stay at home. But I still wanted something special for Valentine’s Day. So I created a lego display that includes flowers, candy, ice bucket (for the champagne of course), and an interactive candle lighting feature.

Baseplate

Lego Bricks

Lego Plates

Lego Tiles

Lego Curved Slopes

2 - CR 2032 Batteries

1 - 9V Battery

2 - Tilt Switches

1 - 330 ohm Resistor

2 - 470 ohm Resistors

1 - Arduino ( I used a Nano)

2 - Obstacle Detectors

3 - LEDs (Red)

Jumper Wires

Soldering Iron

Build a leg box 8x16x2

Make a heart out of lego round plates (1x1) for the candy box lid (8x16)

Make two (2) each of six different candies (2x2) using bricks/round bricks (2x2), tiles (2x2), and 1x1 plates/tiles for the top.

Create a vase (see photos 1 and 2) filled with trans-clear and trans-blue small plates and slopes to hold the roses.

Add baby breath flowers (see photos 3 and 4) around the edges of the vase.

Create three roses (one white, one yellow, and one red). There are many ways to make roses using legos. See photos 5 through 11 for directions on creating the roses.

Build the bucket by alternating 1x2 bricks with 1x1 round bricks to form a circle. Then, build the next level on top of the first circle alternating 1x2 bricks with 1x1 round bricks (see photos 1 through 3). Continue building levels to reach the height you desire.

The lighting feature comes from the lighting ceremony frequently performed at weddings. It involves the couple each picking up a small lighted candle and jointly lighting a larger candle. The ceremony symbolizes the joining of two lives into one. The small candles automatically light (LED turns on) when tilted (in preparation of lighting the larger candle). When the two candles come together over the larger candle, the larger candle's LED turns on.

This step covers the design of the two small candles with tilting switches. The next step shows the design of the large candle with obstacle detection sensors that trigger its LED to turn on.

Steps for Creating the Small Candle (2 are required):

Place CR2032 in battery holder (see photo 1)

Attach wires to the battery holder (see photo 1).

Stack round bricks and plates (2x2) with a cone on top to create the small candle (see photo 2).

Attach a wire to each leg of the LED and tread the wires through the candle (see photo 2).

Set up a breadboard to test the circuit (see photo 2).

Attach one leg from the tilt switch to the positive wire from the battery (see photo 2).

Attach the other leg from the tilt switch to one leg from the 470 ohm resistor (see photo 2).

Attach the other leg of the 470 ohm resistor to the positive wire from the LED (see photo 2).

Attach the negative wire from the LED to the negative side of the battery (see photo 2).

Tilt the candle to test the lighting.

Once it is working, then solder the wires together (see photo 3).

The small candles are now ready to perform their task (see photo 4).

Steps for Creating the Large Interactive Candle:

Stack round plates (4x4) with 2x2 plates inside and a cone on top to create the large candle (see photo 1).

Attach a wire to each leg of the LED and tread the wires through the candle and through a 2x8 technic plate (see photo 2).

Set up the circuit (see photo 3). The ground (GND) pin from each obstacle detector (quantity 2) is attached to the ground port on the Arduino. The VCC pin from each obstacle detector is attached to the 5 volt port on the Arduino. The Out pins are attached to the D2 and D3 ports on the Arduino. The LED positive wire is connected to a 330 ohm resistor (I used an empty row on the breadboard to join them) which connects to port D10 on the Arduino. The LED negative wire is connected to the ground (GND) pin.

Connect the Arduino to your computer and download the Arduino code file (see file 4) to the Arduino.

Test the code by moving your arm over both obstacle detectors - the light on the large candle should turn on (see photos 5 and 6).

Build a housing (essentially an empty lego box) for the large candle (see photo 7). Place the two obstacle detectors near the front of the box (see photo 8) facing upward. Position the Arduino, attached to a 9 volt battery, in the box with the candle on top (see photo 9).

I presented my love with my creation on Valentine's Day. We raised and tilted the small candles to light them and as we brought them together over the large candle it was turned on (see photo 10).

The "if (isObstacle1 == LOW and isObstacle2 == LOW)" is the main part of this program. It tests whether there is a small candle over one obstacle detector and a small candle over the second obstacle. When both are obstructed then the LED turns on; otherwise it stays off or turns off.