Paper Flower With LED and Conductive Tape

What could be sweeter than a light up LED flower? Make your own with Brown Dog Gadgets conductive tape kit.

To make the LED flower you will need the following:

Tools

• Scissors and/or X-acto knife
• Tape or glue stick
• Pencil for tracing

Materials

• Thick craft paper. We used green and sage for the stem, and 3 shades of red for the petals.
• Our conductive tape kit. OR
  • Large paperclips
  • 1 CR2032 battery
  • 1 Gumdrop (10mm) LED, you can use yellow or red.
  • Conductive copper tape

In case you're in need of some video directions, watch this.

Cutting

First cut the templates from the third page of the above PDF, or print them directly onto your thick colored paper.

Next, trace the L onto the green paper and cut it out. This will be the stem, the bottom of the L will fold up diagonally to form the battery holder. Also cut out 3 green petals for decoration.

Trace the 5 petal flower pattern onto one of the sheets of paper. Next tape all 3 sheets together and cut out all 3 flowers at the same time.

Conductive Tape

Front

On the front of the L place a strip of conductive copper tape from the top down the center of the stem towards the bottom of the L as shown. Do not extend tape onto the L.

Back

Run a strip of conductive copper tape from the top of the L down the center, around the corner, and up and over the bottom of the L onto the front. The flower will work best if it is one continuous piece. If the tape breaks, gently remove it and start again. Do not extend the tape so far it touches the first strip on the front, as this will short out the circuit.

LED

Cut a slit in the center of the flower petals. Thread both LED legs through the slits and bend the legs 90 deg. You can use a strip of tape or glue stick to secure the petals offset from each other as shown.

Secure the longer LED leg on the back of the stem with a 1/2 inch strip of copper tape, creating a secure copper sandwich. Secure the shorter LED leg on the front of the stem with a second 1/2 inch strip of copper tape.

Battery

Now you are ready to test your circuit! Place your CR2032 battery at the corner of the L and fold it along the diagonal. Make sure both strips of conductive tape are touching the battery. If your circuit is working the LED should light. If it does not light, flip the battery and try again.

Bend a paperclip into a triangle as shown and slide it around the battery. This will hold it in place.

If the LED does not light, the copper tape may not be secure around the LED legs. Press around them and see if you can get the LED to light.

Leaves

Secure the leaves with the glue stick, tape, or a paper fastener. Congratulations, you are done!

For more cool projects visit Brown Dog Gadgets.com.