Mylar Light Box

The project is composed of a cardboard box, Mylar, tracing paper, and transparent plastic. You fill up the box with rolled Mylar, then cover the top with tracing paper and the back with the transparent cover. By changing the angle of the box as you move it over various light sources, you can notice lovely patterns of the light reflected through the Mylar.

Tools

• Pencil
• Ruler
• Scissors
• Scotch tape

Relevant Parts

• Cardboard box
• Mylar sheet
• Tracing paper
• Plastic , transparent sheet

Step 1 — Mylar Light Box

Gather materials.

Step 2

• Cut flaps off box.

• Trim box to desired height (ours was about 4 inches).

Step 3

Cut a piece of tracing paper that fits one side of the box.

Use Scotch tape to attach the tracing paper to one open side of the box.




 

Step 4

Cut a strip of Mylar a little bit taller then the height of your box.

Cut strip into random lengths.




 

Step 5

Roll Mylar piece into a tube and tape along edge.

Place in box and repeat until you have tubes of varying diameters snugly fit together in the box.




 

Step 6

Once box is full of tubes, trim them down until they all stand slightly below the top of the box.

Step 7

Measure and cut transparent plastic sheet to fit on the open side of the box.

Tape the plastic piece onto the cardboard box on the side opposite the tracing paper.




 

Step 8