The relevance of making New Year’s garland is now extremely high. But it will fall to zero on December 31st. Therefore, I’ll quickly tell you how I made a garland of LED light bulbs with a G4 base to decorate the balcony. I used IEK stripper and crimp, NShVI tips and heat shrink. The whole thing took no more than an hour. Of course, if you carefully and in advance carry out reconnaissance on the ground and prepare materials.
Why do you need to make an LED garland with your own hands?
A Chinese garland for 300 rubles is primitive and not creative. Making a garland with your own hands is always more enjoyable. You can make it as your heart desires and the laws of physics allow. You look at what has accumulated in the pantry, what is missing – you quickly take it out and go ahead. As a result, you will not only have a good time and make a beautiful craft with your own hands but also earn encouragement from your family.
Accessories for garlands
What did I have at the beginning of creation?
- Coloured plastic cups. Buy the cheapest ones at a Fix Price store, preferably translucent ones.
- The G4 cartridges that used to be for halogen lamps were somehow brought from the site, extra.
- 12V LED light bulbs, purchased in advance on Ali at a ridiculous price.
- A 12V power supply from a burnt-out manicure lamp.
- The rest is consumables and tools, I’ll tell you along the way.
Preparing coloured lampshades
Lampshades are the main thing that creates the mood. Yes, the glasses as such will be ruined, but you won’t go to great lengths for the sake of art!
We insert the cartridges into the glasses. To do this, you can use an awl or drill of a suitable diameter.
Connecting the wires
This is the main thing you have to do when making a garland, the rest are little things. In this case, you can use reusable Vago terminals. I am 99% sure that in this case, they will not float.
Power supply and light bulbs
Since the garland needs 12 V, we use power supply 12. The power of the power supply must be greater than the power of the light bulbs. It is better to always have a reserve of 15-20% for force majeure events such as overheating or deviations in power supply and light bulbs. In my case, I use a power supply with a current of 1.5 A.
If you want to make such a garland for the street
The advantage of low voltage is that such a garland can be used outdoors without any problems, in harsh winter conditions (enough for one holiday). The power supply must be placed indoors and do not forget about the voltage drop. Despite the fact that the light bulbs seem to be sealed, it would be a good idea to seal the holes through which the wires pass into the glass with silicone.
