Introduction: A Luminous Christmas Tree in a Picture Frame, Made From Old Light Strip Bulbs

By My blog (French)
About: Software Engineer Musician (Bass Guitar) Maker & Tinkerer

I like recycling / upcycling things.

Christmas is coming soon and I had a broken light strip laying around which features nice tiny 1.5v colored light bulbs.

So I decided to give my take on an idea I have seen on Instructable some time ago: A luminous Christmas tree in a picture frame.

I first tried to reuse the light strip wire but it wasn't stiff enough, so I went for soldered brass wires (I also like making circuit sculptures).

Supplies

What I used:

  • An old Christmas light strip made of small incandescent bulbs
  • A 13x18 cm picture frame from Ikea
  • A micro-usb connector breakout board from Aliexpress
  • 1mm brass wire
  • gooseneck pliers and wire cutter

Step 1: Draw the "Tree Sketch"

I started by drawing a sketch of the tree (a triangle) fitting the picture frame.

I then experimented with various light bulbs spacing in order to have a multiple of 3 light bulbs on each side of the tree (the power supply is 5V, with groups of 3 bulbs in series, in parallel, giving about 1.7v per bulb).

I went for a bulb spacing of 14mm

Step 2: Solder the Bulbs

The bulbs were taken out of the light strip using a cutter to cut the insulator and a soldering iron to unsolder them from their wires.


I started building the tree from the bottom-right hand side.

The tree is powered from its center.

Each ligtht bulb is separated by a small piece of brass, bent and soldered to the bulbs.

Each 3 bulb, we need to connect the bulb to the ground wire, which is running at the centrer of the tree, from top to bottom.

The first bulb of the next group of 3 is connected to the other power wire via a brass wire that is running parallel to the "tree side", spaced about 1cm and slightly elevated (about 3mm) from the base plane, since it must cross the horizontal ground wires without touching them.

(The two power wire roles are interchangeable since we're using incandescent bulbs).


I did a power-on test of each group of 3 bulbs right after soldering each group, in order to make sure the bulbs were OK.

I also used some blue adhesive tape to maintain the brass wires while soldering them.

Soldering tip: Using soldering flux paste helps a lot (put a little bit of flux paste on a brass wire or on the tin wire before soldering)


Step 3: Install in the Frame

After a final power-on test, it's time to install the tree in the picture frame.

I used a small hollow plastic spacer at the bottom of the tree in order to elevate the base of the tree from the frame base. I also used the same spacer stuck behind the tree at about 2/3rd height.

One of the two power wires was bent at the bottom in order to be a few mm above the other one, then I drilled 2 holes at the bottom-centrer of the frame.

I then used a small micro-USB breakout board stuck at the bottom of the frame, as a power-in connector.


I'm quite satisfied with the end result. This will look nice next to the Christmas Tree.