Snowboard Space Art

I found an old snowboard in my apartment from the last people. I almost threw it out but had this awesome idea to turn it into an art piece. And since I love space, what better art scene than outer space!!

- Spray paint. You'll need black, and then any other colors you want for planets and galaxies.

- Snowboard

- LEDs (https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32357409186.html?s... You'll need to power them from a 12v wall outlet or wire a batter container to them

- 12 v wall adapter (https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32961533195.html?s...

- LED controller (https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32812057644.html?s...

- 1x3 piece of wood. Doesn't need to be exact. But I used a french clear to hold up the board.

- Container lids. These will mark the planets.

- Wall anchors or screws

First, I removed the shoe holds. I then cleaned off the board. There was some sticky stuff and I found a chisel got it off pretty well. I did gouge one spot too deep and bit into the plastic outer layer. Maybe try goo gone or something but you can't even notice so good enough for me.

I then spray-painted the background black. Maybe try primer instead if you want. it doesn't matter. I just wanted a coat of paint down so that my artwork wasn't going straight onto the board and the plastic layer itself.

For spray painting outer space, there are better instructions than what I can provide so I won't go into deep detail. Jon Barber Art is one I've followed (https://www.youtube.com/user/lagunasunrise99). For the planets, I took my container lids and placed them to where I wanted the planets. I then marked the outside and removed the lids. I then spray-painted the colors that I wanted the planet to be and smeared around the colors with newspaper. I then sprayed the black and white accents to simulate the sunrise/sunset on the planet. Just choose a point of light and keep the planets all 'facing that direction for maximum effect. once the paint dries and you're satisfied, put the containers back over the planets.

Next is the space between the planets. I made sure there was a nice thick coat of black around the snowboard. I wanted nice little nebulas. So I took the spray paint a decent way off the board and then quickly waved it across where I wanted to see the colors come through. If you want more concentrated nebulas, just spray closer or vice versa. To add stars, spray paint white onto your finger and then flick in across the board.

The great part about this is, there is no wrong answer! Whatever you think looks good is good enough! I've also found that the colors don't matter so much, it all looks good. If you check out the youtube channel I referenced, there are a lot more techniques that you can apply.

Once the paint is dry, I then placed got the board ready to hang and attach LEDs.

I took a 1x3 board and cut it at a 45-degree angle along its length. These were used for a french cleat. So one half goes on the wall and the other half on the snowboard. This way it hangs on the wall as the 2-45 degree angles match together. I used superglue. If I did this again, I might use the bold holes from the snowboard shoe slots, but oh well.

Take little slices of 1x3 and place them around the outside of the board. The LED strip will be super glued to these to give it its shape. I found hot glue doesn't stick to the silicone LEDs well so superglue is a must. I think I ripped the 1x3 down into 1/4 inch x 1/4 inch strips. I had them laying around so those aren't the exact dimensions. But ultimately, just make sure they are as thick as the LED strip. Any LED length leftover can just be cut off. What I found that worked best is only putting the LEDs around the flat portion of the board. So where it started to curve, I didn't put LEDs there. I found that it has a nice fading effect around the left and right sides of the board.

Once the LEDs were glued down, I took the LED controller and connected it to the LEDs. The LED controller and LED lights I used had the connectors already set up. I personally connected a battery back to power them, but I'm wishing I had just gotten a 12v wall adapter and connected it that way. The reason I didn't is that the 12v adapter pack was thicker than my 1x3s and I didn't know where to hang it. I will probably wire an extension chord myself in the future when I get tired of changing batteries.

Once the LEDs are wired, you'll need to figure out where to put them. Like any good project, I didn't know where it was going to go before I built it so I had to figure it out once I was done. Find a nice section of wall and then attach the other side of the 1x3 for the french cleat.

Finally, have guests over and turn it on!