This is a follow up instruction for my LED jewelry. This time I bring you my Halloween collection - a bat, spider and ghost. Make yourself a unique Halloween badge that will glow in the dark. This time I made a video for you!

Step 1: Watch the Video Tutorial!

Check out how the ghost is being designed and made. I tried to show all the steps as detailed as possible. The video should help you to see how to make these badges yourself without any trouble. Hope it will help.

Step 2: Gather All the Tools and Material

The key to success is proper material and tools. Here is what you gonna need.

Tools:

Narrow pliers
Round-nose pliers
Side cutters
Soldering station (idealy 900M-T-2C soldering tip)
Tweezers
Double sided tape
Piece of paper

Material:

1mm/0.8mm straight brass rod
SMD 1206 LEDs
coin cell battery (CR2016, CR2025, CR2032, ..)
tin solder
soldering paste

Step 3: Start With Stencil

It's always the best to start with the paper template before actually start to waste wire. I prepared a special Halloween collection for you. You can create a bat, spider or adorable ghost. But I would love you to create your own shapes and share them with me!

halloween.pdf
Download

Step 4: Place Everything on the Paper Stencil

Prepare yourself with the 2 copies of the paper stencil. Cover one of the stencils with double-sided tape. Use the second one to measure, cut and bend all the wire parts. Stick the wires onto the double-sided tape to match the paper template under it. Start from the outer shell, then place LEDs and finally the inner connections. Places the LEDs with the green arrow or T symbol on the back facing to you and pointing inside from the outer shell. It's wise to purchase more LEDs because these little bastards are easy to fly away.

Step 5: Solder Everything Together

Cover all the joints between the wires and LEDs with the solder paste and start slowly soldering the parts together. I am using 2mm flat-top soldering tip heated to 320°C and lead-based solder (Sn63Pb27). Soldering paste is required for the solder to stick onto the brass wires. Otherwise, it won't solder the wires together.

Make sure not to overheat the wire, the double-sided tape will start to lose its stickiness and parts will start to float around. Help yourself with the tweezers to hold the parts in the correct places.

Wanna blinky LEDs?

There is a special type of LED that contains a little microchip inside. This microchip allows for various effects from changing color to blinking. You can use these instead of standard LEDs to make a special effect!

Step 6: Create Battery Holder

Solder a wire on the back of the badge to create a pocket for a battery.

Step 7: Done

Now place a battery into the back of the badge and see how nicely it lit up! There are different types of coin batteries with different diameters and thickness. The only requirement is to use 3V battery. The battery depending on the size and number of LEDs used will last around 24h.

You might be wondering why there is no current limiting resistor. Won't the LED burn? My design uses an internal resistance of the battery. The battery itself won't allow such high current to burn the LEDs. Nasty trick.