Origami Earring With LED Light (Mardi Gras Colors)

Have you ever wanted to be the life and light of the party? We can't give you life, but we can help you become the best lit person in the room. Create these earrings for your favorite holiday- red, white, and blue for the 4th of July- red, green, and white for Christmas- or our personal choice- the flashy yellow, green, and purple for Mardi Gras. Oh how we love Louisiana.

Make this unique gift for the special people in your life (not excluding yourself...) and light up their life for years to come. You won't be forgotten anytime soon!

Materials

origami paper (4x3" purple pieces, 16x1-3/8" yellow pieces)

white paper

copper tape

LED (green)

CR 2032 battery

kidney wire earring hooks

Equipment

tweezers

scotch tape

hole punch

pin

scissors

Step 1: Fold 4 Purple Stars

Describing in words how to fold origami is very difficult, so I made a video tutorial to show you how to fold the purple stars.

Watch the tutorial and follow along. You will need 2 for each earring, so a total of 4. In the video I am using a paper that is 6x6 inches so that you can see better, but you will be using a 3x3 paper. So don't be worried if your star is smaller than the one in the video.

Step 2: Fold 16 Yellow Triangles

Here is another video tutorial to make the rest of the origami pieces for the earring. You will need 8 for each earring, so a total of 16.

Step 3: Cut Paper and Put Down Copper Tape

Now that we have made the origami part of the project, put that to the side for now to make the lighting part of the project.

To begin the lighting portion of this project, cut a piece of paper about 2cm wide and 3cm long and put copper tape down the center of it on one side

Step 4: Cut and Bend the LED

Cut the LED wires to about 8mm (one line on the college rule paper) and bend the wires as shown in the picture. It would be helpful to remember which end is positive and which is negative. Most LEDs will have a lip on the bottom of the plastic to help you know which is which.

Step 5: Attach the LED to the Copper Tape

Now we are going to attach the LED light to the copper wire by putting the positive end of the LED on the copper tape with the LED pointing away from the copper tape side of the paper. Attach the positive end of the LED light to the copper tape using scotch tape. I colored the tape to show how one end of the LED light is above the tape while the other is below it.

To create our circuit, we need to slip a small piece of paper, about 2cm long and the same width as the other one, between the negative end of the LED and the scotch taped down part. When the paper with the copper tape is folded in half as shown in the picture, this second piece of paper should go a little past the fold. This will allow the current to flow when we insert our battery.

Step 6: Attach the LED to the Origami

Get your two purple star pieces and punch a hole in the center of one. Mark one of the corners as the top (it doesn't matter which one, but it will be a good point of reference later on) on the inside. Keep the other star handy. These two stars will come together to make one earring.

The bottom of the earring is the point opposite of the point you marked. You will want to insert your LED light through the hole and orient it so that the fold of the paper is parallel to the line tangent to the bottom point. (If you are confused, like my wife, see the picture above. It is important that the paper is attached correctly if you want the earring to work).

Next we need to tape our "battery compartment" into place. Start by taping the side with the LED light so it doesn't slip out of its hole. Tape the paper on either side of the LED to the purple star, and also place a piece of tape over the uncovered positive end of the LED. Now line up your other purple star to create the back side of the earring. The paper needs to be taped to the back side of the purple star, without covering up the copper tape. (Once again, if confused- see the pictures.)

Step 7: Attach the Ear Pin

Use a pin to make a small hole through the marked top of both star pieces and insert the ear pin piece.

Step 8: Assemble the Origami

Now it is time to glue in the yellow triangle pieces to make the center purple star stand out. As shown in the photo, be sure to insert the triangle so that it brings the two purple discs together, and enters below the surface of the center purple star on each disc. It is important that two triangles be left unglued either to the right or left of the earring hook to allow a place for a battery to be inserted.

Step 9: Turn It on and PARTY!!

Drop the battery in through the hole that you left open making sure the negative side is facing toward the LED light. Then finish putting the yellow triangles onto the star. It is important that you do not glue these triangles in, or your LED will never turn off. The way to turn off your earring after your night of partying or long day of work will be to remove those two triangles, and slide out the battery.