In this Instructable, I will show you, how to build your own 'unread Email'-Notifier, that starts to light, when a new Mail arrives. You don't need special equipment for this. When you do DIY-Projects at yourself, you should have everything at home.

Step 1: What You Need and How to Setup Your Account.

In this step I will show you what you need for the project and how to setup your Google-Account to let the Raspberry Pi connect himself with the IMAP-Server

This is the link to your settings:

Google "Less Secure Apps"-Settings

Step 2: Explaining the Program

In Step 2 I will show and explain you the program we use in order to retrieve our unread mail and control our LED's on the Raspberry Pi.

Here is the Pastebin-link to the program:

The Program for the Raspberry Pi

Step 3: Cable Breadboard and Raspberry Pi

Now we will cable our Breadboard and then connect it to the Raspberry Pi.

Step 4: Final Test & How to Build a Fast, Nice DIY Case for the Desk

Here I show you THAT it works and as special you see how to build a fast, good looking case for the Raspberry Pi out of a plastic-box from the shreds-market I bought for 30c (20p).

I hope you now have a lot of fun with your new Email-Notifier. Feel free to experiment with the program. Here I listed some ideas for you:

Shorten the reload-time. When you do that, E-Mails would be refreshed more often, but it could happen that Google stops his service for you.
Program a black- or whitelist, so it only begins to light when you have got mail from people you whitelisted.
Include something else, like a blue LED when a new Tweet arrived, or you could even add a display into the inner, so it can show you data, like the exact amount of email, or the room-temperature.

You can do so many things with it, I wish you happy experimenting :)

PS: I would be really curious of what you are building. So when you have done this project, please send me a link with a photo.