Glowing light from packaging waste

So you've enjoyed a great bottle of champagne, but now the bottle is in the recycling bin, your cat is playing with the cork, and you are wondering what to do with the neat box it came in?
Boy, have I got a great project for you!

We will take a beautiful plastic box, which is otherwise destined for the landfill, and turn it into a powerful room accent.

While the component dimensions are developed for the particular box which I used, the project is simple enough to be easily adaptable to other sizes of boxes.

If you have a box that is coloured and has some graphic decoration, then it is a good candidate for this project.
Go for it!

Step 1 Yay! A short materials list!

In addition to your plastic box, you will need these items:

1. Low-wattage lighting components: I recommend a "PL" type of compact fluorescent bulb. This example uses a PL-18 (18 watts). Lower wattage systems are available; they use shorter bulbs which would be appropriate for shorter boxes.
Source: a specialized electrical supply store ought to be able to outfit you with bulbs, socket, and ballast. DON'T leave the supply store without a ballast/socket/power wiring diagram!

2. Other electrical components are:
-two-wire cord
-two prong plug
-switch
-twist wire connectors
Source: most hardware stores.

3. A small piece of plywood, Masonite, MDF, at least 1/4 inch thick.
Sources: your scrap bin, your neighbour's scrap bin, the dumpster down the street...

4. Wood screws:
-#4 x 3/8 inch long
-#8 x 1 3/4 inch long
(Please don't obsess about these specifications, many other sizes will work but this is what I used)
Sources: your spare screw jar, the hardware store if you are not a pack rat

NOTE: The box I used is approximately 3.5 inches square and 12.75 inches tall; my light assembly is 10.75 inches tall using the PL-18 bulb.
The PL bulbs are available in a whole range of wattages and sizes.
For instance, using the PL-5 bulb would result in an assembly 7 to 8 inches tall, and the ballast is smaller. So this would suit shorter and narrower boxes.

Comments

[lemonie]

It's nice. (how much did the booze cost?) L

[marc_alain]

Thanks! Actually, I was just given the box... I never even saw the bottle. Marc

[lemonie]

Bummer! The image is the best I've ever done with lighting (music festival flyers) L

[Subvert]

Lighting is a lot of fun to work with. Not only are you getting creative with the actual object, but ESPECIALLY with all those fun photons blasting out, changing lighting and creating shadow.

[marc_alain]

AH! Interesting! Did you laminate the flyers? Are those spring clips in the corners, and stitching up the sides? I am curious about the construction, as it is suggesting some other ideas... Marc

[lemonie]

I was 'playing' with a binding machine, which punched the holes in the edges (not laminated). 'Sewn' together with thick string, the impression of spring-clips is just an artifact of the photo. L

[Subvert]

This looks like a really more elaborate version of what was in the first issue of readymade, where they made a lamp from one of those coroplast "for sale" signs. I'm just mentioning that to give you possible different avenues for experimentation. They just used a generic incandescent light and traditional lightbulb socket. Scary! My best friend sometimes makes these, and you had to be careful because depending on how you made them, they'd melt the plastic. I think she's moved on to CFL's and other fluorescent lighting in them now though. I do like how many different ways you could tinker with this idea. Personally, I've scavenged some other fluorescent lamps for the ballast and socket to make some lamps. It was pretty nice, all I had to do was wire the plug and switch for my project. I agree with your choice of those wheel switches. They're easy and reliable (but usually overpriced). I'll even put them on other things that have their own switches that sometimes fail (Like those clamp "reading lights" that have...er, not sure of the proper vocabulary...rotary(?) switches that are at the end of the socket and you twist). Have you been able to find good prices on the sockets and ballasts? I also wish that the ballast technology could be made smaller for people like us. Absent good solutions to these problems, I've been resorting mainly to CFL's and traditional sockets. Cheaper, easier, but flexible in different ways. I've never really been a fan of those twist connectors. In the past, I've always used heat shrink tubing, but lately (thanks to Make, probably), I've been sold on mastic tape. Lastly, you probably have more electrician-type knowledge than me, but is that actually correct about the hot conductor? The reason I ask is because how I understand AC power is that as Alternating Current, the electron flow switches direction, so they both take turns being hot and being "neutral". I've never dug any deeper than just wondering about it. I've never had a lamp fail because of the way I've wired it (other than just bad connections), but safety and reliability is important to me.

[Bignerd100]

Great idea. I sell quite a few bottles of Piper every week and throw away lots of these plastic display boxes. Very pimp light for a nightstand. You don't have to turn on the red light, but now, you want to.

[marc_alain]

The light is in our living room, at the front of the house. When it is the only light on, I wonder if passersby think they have arrived in the red light district? Pimp light indeed!

[xmikeox]

I like it!