Home Made Electronic Christmas Card

A simple light up christmas card

Posted by Tyler H.

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I am going to walk through how to make a simple light-up Christmas card using LEDs, copper tape, and a battery.

WARNING: I do not recommend mailing these cards, never know what will happen if the circuit is live the whole time it is going through the postal system.

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You Will Need (6 things)

  • Paper
  • Copper Tape
  • LED
  • Watch Battery
  • Scissors
  • Scotch Tape

Steps (10 steps, 30 minutes)

  1. 1

    First step is to look at the LEDs you plan to use. The shorter of the two leads is going to go to the negative side of the battery.

  2. 2

    You can test the polarity of your LEDs directly by placing a watch battery between the two leads and seeing which orientation causes the LED to light up.

    NOTE: Some LEDs work both ways.

  3. 3

    Here is a simple circuit. The negative terminal of the battery is on the copper tape leading to the negative lead of the LED. The positive lead is connected to the copper tape heading of to the right of the battery. All it takes is one little fold and...

  4. 4

    ...eureka! The circuit is complete! So far I have shown the leads being taped over the copper tape, but depending on the copper tape you use you may be able to affix the leads under that instead.

  5. 5

    If you want to use multiple LEDs, they will have to be setup in a parallel circuit like what is shown here.

  6. 6

    And here we see the two LEDs lighting up when the circuit is completed.

  7. 7

    Here are these principles applied to simple card design. I used a bit of tape to make sure pressure was required for the battery to make full contact with the copper tape.

  8. 8

    Here is another one. Better circuit, same sub-par artwork by me. :P

  9. 9

    Here is the backside showing the circuit. Scotch tape is placed between the two overlapping pieces of copper tape to prevent a short circuit.

  10. 10

    Anyway, that's the basics of it. Best thing to to is sit down and play with the idea. I suggest finding some images online if your artistic skills are similar to mine.