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Step 3Electrical Lighting Theory Class
No, not really.. This is the basic "what kind of lights should I get" section...
Lights are , well,,, whatever you want them to be or have laying around. Obviously you can't use the old standard "C7" lights (too big, and hot,,, will melt the plastic), but who uses them anymore anyhow? There are some really excellent lights on the market now, and LED are a good energy way to go, With LED (aka LOW Wattage) you can probably put 10 or 12 of these Sprakleballs on the same electrical circuit! (disclaimer,, I am NOT an electrical engineer, so this is not necessarily accurate, but I've done it )
I like to use a variety of choices, some flash, some are solid on. I have found some that 'twinkle' which gives a nice effect. You are NOT limited to stings of lights, you can use the 'icicle' light stings, or the light nets. Any of them will work, so look long and hard at your options! You can also use those rather cool strings with 140 or 150 lights, that have 16 functions, or multiple built in flashing options. Remember to buy on sale just after Christmas and stock up for next year!
So, if you have 25 cups, and twenty five holes, what do you do with the bulbs that have no cup? One option is to put the extra light(s) in an existing hole, making two (or three) lights per cup. Another choice is to hot glue the lights into a gap between cups. A third option is just to let the bulbs 'hang' on the interior of the light ball. (as I did on this second example) A fourth option with this Half Sparkleball, is to hot glue the spare lights to the back reflective surface..
If you are planning on using more than 50 lights per ball then your hole needs to be large enough at the bottom of the cup to insert two (or three) lights. This is accomplished by letting your hot soldering iron spend a bit more time in the opening, as the heat will cause the hole to expand.
Lights are , well,,, whatever you want them to be or have laying around. Obviously you can't use the old standard "C7" lights (too big, and hot,,, will melt the plastic), but who uses them anymore anyhow? There are some really excellent lights on the market now, and LED are a good energy way to go, With LED (aka LOW Wattage) you can probably put 10 or 12 of these Sprakleballs on the same electrical circuit! (disclaimer,, I am NOT an electrical engineer, so this is not necessarily accurate, but I've done it )
I like to use a variety of choices, some flash, some are solid on. I have found some that 'twinkle' which gives a nice effect. You are NOT limited to stings of lights, you can use the 'icicle' light stings, or the light nets. Any of them will work, so look long and hard at your options! You can also use those rather cool strings with 140 or 150 lights, that have 16 functions, or multiple built in flashing options. Remember to buy on sale just after Christmas and stock up for next year!
So, if you have 25 cups, and twenty five holes, what do you do with the bulbs that have no cup? One option is to put the extra light(s) in an existing hole, making two (or three) lights per cup. Another choice is to hot glue the lights into a gap between cups. A third option is just to let the bulbs 'hang' on the interior of the light ball. (as I did on this second example) A fourth option with this Half Sparkleball, is to hot glue the spare lights to the back reflective surface..
If you are planning on using more than 50 lights per ball then your hole needs to be large enough at the bottom of the cup to insert two (or three) lights. This is accomplished by letting your hot soldering iron spend a bit more time in the opening, as the heat will cause the hole to expand.
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