Introduction: Make Your Own Colored LEDs

There are many instructables about how to make 'Throwies'.
For this to have a nice effect you need loads of different color LEDs.

I found it a bit frustrating to find colored LEDs. And when I found them they were more expensive then a normal white LED.

Thats why I thought there had to be an easier and cheaper way. Though thinking about it for a long while the answer was more simple then I thought.

Follow these simple steps to create your own colored LEDs!

Step 1: Materials & Tools

All you need for this is:

- White LEDs
- Sand paper (fine, between 200 and 400)
- Color markers


Once you've got these things you're ready to start!

I bought 100x 5mm LED white on eBay for only $7 (including shipping).
So that's only $0,07 for each LED. You won't get colored LEDs this bright for that price!


Step 2: Diffusing a LED

You can use any size of LED you'd like. In this instructable I used 5mm LEDs. But you can do it with a 3mm or 10mm LED as well.

The LEDs I had are 'water clear'.
To make the effect of the color work good we need to make the LEDs 'diffused'.

1. We need fine sandpaper to get the diffused effect we want. The best sandpaper to use is some between 200 and 400. The one I used was 240.

Sand the whole LED till you get the diffused LED effect. You can see the difference of a 'water clear' and 'diffused' LED on the photos below.


2. Clean the LED so all the LED 'dust' is removed from it.

I've also attached a battery and made a photo so you can clearly see what the difference is and what cool effect we'll get.


Step 3: Coloring the LEDs

Now we've prepared the LEDs for coloring.

1. Get a color marker and color the whole LED.

Be sure that you cover the whole LED with the marker so there won't shine any white light through anymore.

2. Wait till the LED dries up with the color.
If you want to be sure that it will glow nicely in your desired color, give it another coating. This will guarantee you it will glow great without any white color shining through.


Let your LEDs dry up good so you wont get colored fingers when picking up the LEDs :)


Step 4: Finished Result

Now just hook your LED on a battery and see if you did a good job (see photos).

Once you light it up and you see there is still some white shining through, just color some more over those white spots.

Colored LEDs are more expensive then white LEDs and harder to find. So now you can easily create your own colored LEDs in any color you like!