Introduction: Gummy Bear Night Light With Color Changing LED

By

I’m not sure why honey comes packaged in a little bear-shaped bottle, but I sure do like it. And after I’ve squeezed the life out a honey bear, it makes me sad to see it go. Instead of tossing its empty carcass into the recycle bin, I decided to upcycle one into a night light. But I wanted the bear to come back as something a little more special in its afterlife. With the help of spray paint and a multicolored LED candle, a plain old honey bear can be transformed into a magical, glowing gummy bear night light.

Materials

  • Plastic Bear-Shaped Honey Container (empty)
  • White Spray Paint
  • Flameless LED Candle (color changing preferred)
  • Slow Color Changing LED (if your candle is not already color changing)
  • Double Sided Tape
  • Craft Knife/Cutting Tool
  • Small Screwdriver
  • Black Permanent Marker

Step 1: ​Preparation

  1. Remove any labels from the outside of the bottle.
  2. Empty the honey bear of its contents and wash it out.

Step 2: Painting

  1. Prepare an area for painting; lay down some cardboard or paper.
  2. Place a few strips of double sided tape down.
  3. Stick the top of the bottle down onto the tape. The tape will keep the bottle from falling over when the paint is applied.
  4. Apply two thin coats of spray paint.
  5. Let dry.
  6. Use a black permanent marker to draw on the eyes and nose.

Step 3: Lighting

The tea light I bought had a white/yellow flickering light. I could have used it as it was, but I thought it would look better if I used a multicolored light instead. Using a multicolored light will transform your plain white bear into a bunch of different colored gummies!

The easiest thing to do would be to use a color changing tea light. Instead of going out and buying one, I decided to use what I already had to make my own. I found a multicolored LED in a decorative Halloween skull. I believe what I found was some sort of slow color changing RGB LED; it cycles between different colors at a slow pace. I opened the skull and removed the LED.

Now I needed to change the LED on the tea light. I opened up the tea light, and disassembled it with a small screwdriver. I just pulled out the old LED, replaced it with the new one, and reassembled it. No soldering required. It was pretty simple, just pay attention to how you disassemble it and do the reverse to reassemble it. When you reassemble it, leave out the fake plastic flame.

Step 4: The Hole

  1. Trace a circle, the size of the tea light, on the bottom of the bear. I traced around inner part of the tea light that I had removed and it was a struggle to push the tea light in afterward. The hole needed to be bigger, so I suggest using the outer part of the tea light to draw the circle since it’s a little larger than the inner part I used.
  2. Cut out the circle. It might be difficult to cut through, depending on the thickness of the bottle. Take your time and cut slowly, and in small sections.
  3. Push the tea light into the hole so that the top ¼ is inside the bear. The fit should be tight and shouldn’t move around when you turn the on/off switch. If it wiggles around, you can use some hot glue to secure it.