101-Led Wreath

Step 16 You're on the bus

Even though it's all in a circle, the wreath still won't work. We need to hook all the minuses together and then all the plusses together, creating what's called a power bus.

Take the small-gauge, tinned, solid wire and measure out enough to go around the outside of the loop, and then some. If you have to remove the insulation from the wire, do so now using wire strippers or your needle-nosed pliers (and their inner cutting surface). Do this in stages, and be careful not to cut or brush-burn your fingers with the wire edge or insulation.

First, form the negative (ground) bus. Sew one strand of wire through the outer points of the wreath, and tightly wrap the loose ends around the pair of LED leads that you left unsoldered. You might want to loop the wire once around each junction as it passes through, to give some mechanical stability. Make sure the wire is straight between junctions, but don't pull so tightly that it distorts the circular shape of the wreath.

Now, do the same for the inner loop, which will form the positive bus. Take care not to touch any other leads of the LEDs with either bus.