Welding Plastics: LED Flower

by nerdyKat

32K11022

Intro: Welding Plastics: LED Flower

I decided to write a small series of Instructables to show that there are a lot of things you can make out of plastic bottles and how easy the plastic welding process is.

As I mentioned in my previous Instructable, I found welding plastics quite enjoyable and so here is the second installment of my milk bottles creations.

Tools & Materials:

  • plastic milk bottle
  • LED tea light
  • soldering iron
  • scissors
  • sharpies
  • hobby knife
  • marker
  • lighter

STEP 1: Preparing the Milk Bottle

Start by cutting the bottle in half and then cut off the curvy bits so that it's easier to draw on later. Clean the bottle halves if necessary.

STEP 2: Cutting

Print out the template attached to this step and trace the flowers onto the milk bottle with a marker. Cut out the flower pieces and clean off the marker with alcohol.

Cut a hole in each flower piece big enough so that you can slide it onto the LED tea light flame.

STEP 3: Colouring

With a sharpie of your choice outline the perimeter of each piece on the front and back.

STEP 4: Stacking

Place the flower pieces on top of the LED tea light with the candle flame poking through the hole of each piece. Start with the largest piece and end with the smallest one.

Press down the flower stack firmly and weld around the candle flame, so that you get an even joint between the flame and the top flower piece.

STEP 5: Welding

Set the soldering iron temperature between 200-230°C. Lift up one of the top petals and curl it around the candle flame. Whilst holding the petal press the tip of the iron into the bottom side of the petal, so that you melt the petal into the candle flame. Repeat for the other side. Warm up the top of the petal with a lighter and curl outwards.

Lift up another petal, somewhat on the opposite site, weld one of the sides onto the first petal and without pushing too much curl around the flame and weld the other side. Warm up the tip of the petal and curl outwards. Repeat for all of the petals.

Once finished you might want to grab your sharpie and go over the edges again, since a whole lot of it will end up on your fingers :D

STEP 6: Changing the LED

At this point you could just leave it as is, it looks quite nice with the yellow flickering LED that was originally in the tea light, but I had some spare coloured LEDs so I decided to spice it up a bit. The process is quite easy. Disassemble the candle base and take out the old LED. Bend the new LED into the same shape as the old one, pop it in and push the bottom back in.

STEP 7: Result

The whole project was quite easy to make and it took me about hour and half to finish. I think it would look quite interesting as a bouquet, maybe even without the LEDs and adding some stems. But at this point I ran out of bottles so maybe another day :D

20 Comments

aerospace4 6 years ago

These are beautiful! My sister used to make these to put on the lights of the Christmas tree. (She never coloured them though)

nerdyKat 6 years ago

Thank you very much for your lovely comment, I would have never thought to use them on the Christmas tree, but I can definitely imagine them with some sparkles and maybe even attached to the mains powered LEDs :D

tiniwesa 6 years ago

So beautiful & clever! Reminds me of the little roses my Mum used to make out of apple peels. Of course those were just a simple, fun, but temporary way to use the scraps left over from making homemade apple pie. These are really brilliant! (I guess you could say quite literally, haha!) So many lovely uses & gifting ideas, I can't wait to make a few for Mother's Day! Cheers! :D

nerdyKat 6 years ago

You got me tempted to try some apple peel roses :D thank you very much for your kind words and I would really like to see your flowers if you do end up making some ;)

sylviahamilton 6 years ago

Head yourself down to the nearest recycle center to find some more plastic, and get busy making more wonderful creations!! Thanks for your projects and your inspiration (just think of what you can do with all the varieties/colors you'll find!). Great job

nerdyKat 6 years ago

Thank you very much for your lovely comment ;)

kristyjo 6 years ago

I think these would look great placed on a wide ribbon down the center of a long banquet table for a wedding or anniversary dinner. I love this idea - already printed the template.

nerdyKat 6 years ago

Awesome idea, I would love to see the result ;)

kathynv 6 years ago

What neat roses! I can see making a bouquet of them and sing them as a nightlight to guide folks to the bathroom at night, or in a child's room to scare away monsters. Thank you for the idea and thank you for sharing!

nerdyKat 6 years ago

Sounds like a cool idea, thank you for your lovely comment ;)

1Wally 6 years ago

Awesome Job

Thank-you for Sharing

nerdyKat 6 years ago

You're welcome, thank you for your comment ;)

nerdyKat 6 years ago

Thank you very much ;)

JohnSmith-Workshop 6 years ago

Yet another project of yours which amuses me, lovely job mate :D

nerdyKat 6 years ago

I'm glad you like them and thank you for your comment ;)

nerdyKat 6 years ago

Thank you very much ;)