DIY LED Stick Figure Costume

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by siliconghost

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Intro: DIY LED Stick Figure Costume

I'm going to show you how to build a simple LED stick figure costume. This project is super easy providing you have basic soldering skills. It was a huge hit in our neighborhood. I lost count of how many people said this was the best costume they had seen that night and how cool they thought it was. It seemed like every single house we went to had something to say about it.

I've seen other tutorials on how to do this but none detailed the LED connections the way I felt they needed to be detailed for beginners. Hopefully this makes it easy enough for anyone to complete this project in just a few hours.

Video of the final product can be seen above. Bonus video at the end of this Instructable!

Enjoy!

STEP 1: Gather the Materials

The following materials are all that you need for this build:

  • Roll of LED lights (Amaz on)
  • Wood Embroidery Hoop (A m azon)
  • Male / Female "JST" Connectors (Am azon)
  • 12V Rechargeable Battery Pack (A mazon)
    • Note, if the power pack does not come with a DC jack as mine did, you can buy one from Amazo n here .
  • Toddler Sized Hoodie & Sweatpants (A mazon)
  • Electrical Tape for electrical connections

The power supply is the most expensive component. It is rechargeable and can be used for many other projects. If you want to go a bit cheaper, you can substitute the 12 VDC supply for a standard 9V battery. The 9V won't be as bright or last as long but it is still quite good for most needs. Note: The 12 VDC supply shown here was tested for 5 hours straight and was still shining bright!

The Embroidery Hoop helps to keep the head clearly "defined" as a circle.

STEP 2: Gather the Tools

You need the following tools for this project:

  • Soldering Iron (and solder, flux, etc.)
  • Hot Glue
  • Wire Strippers / Cutters

STEP 3: Cut the LED Strips

Cut the LED strips for the suite. You will be making a total of 5 strips which will eventually turn into 6 (will explain why later).

The length of your cuts will vary depending on the size of the outfit you have. The most important thing to remember is that LED strips have a "cut line" that is typically every 3 LEDs. It is clearly marked on the LED strips as a line or may contain "scissors" indicating the place to cut. You may have to cut your strips slightly short or long depending on where your cut-lines fall.

Cut the 5 strips to length using the hand drawn diagram. The longest strip will be the one that extends from the torso area up and around the head.

STEP 4: Build the Pants

  1. Solder a wire to the positive connection on each of the two LED strips
  2. Twist and solder the two positive leads together
  3. Repeat the process for the two negative leads
  4. Attach a male or female JST connector to these leads (It doesn't matter which you use. You just need to use the opposite on the hoodie side)
  5. Secure the LED strips to the pants using the peel off tape from the LEDs and hot glue at the top where the wires meet the LED strips. The hot glue will pretty much ruin the pants unless you're willing to invest a lot of time getting it out. That said, it does an amazing job keeping the LED strips in place and attached to the suite. You might be able to get away with using just the LED strip tape, but I would be willing to bet that it won't hold up for long.

STEP 5: Build the Hoodie

  1. Lay the arms in place on the hoodie
  2. Lay the center LED strip in place
  3. Cut the center LED strip where the arms meet (see photos)
  4. Solder the LED strips as shown in the hand drawn diagram
  5. Attach the LED strips using adhesive tape and hot glue as shown in the photos
  6. Insert wooden hoop to ensure proper fit. If needed, using hot-glue to hold hoop in place (I did not need to do this as it was a pretty tight fit)Wood
  7. Attach both the opposite JST connector AND two wires for power at the waste level point as shown in picture. Note: The DC power jack shown in this picture comes with the LED strip purchase.

STEP 6: Power It Up

Connect the 12DC power source to the DC power jack and fire it up! If your connections are all good, it should immediately light up.

STEP 7: Have Fun!


Once you're done have a blast! This costume was the hit of our neighborhood this year. Check out the reactions from the people in my video. Every house was like this! We had bus drivers and a pizza delivery guy stopping to say how great it was. Parents wanted to have their picture taken with him. It was so much fun and well worth the effort!

42 Comments

TheFrankTurk 10 years ago

This is one of the great minimalist costume ideas of all time, and this is a great implementation/build.

Maybe I am the only one, but to me this is infinitely creepier than a zombie because it is so unreal and other-worldly.

siliconghost 10 years ago

I can't take credit for the original idea (saw it on YouTube last year) but I agree that for such a simple costume to build it can have a huge impact. As mentioned in my tutorial we had people stopping their cars when driving by (including a public transportation bus and pizza delivery guy) and constant comments of "that is the best costume I have ever seen!". Watch the videos with audio and you'll see what I mean. Thanks for the feedback!

PeteGriff65 7 years ago

Hi, am doing this for a party in the U.K. & have purchased all the parts, but just need clarity on how to connect the strips to the power once it's all connected. The pic isn't very clear, thanks.

siliconghost 7 years ago

I didn't realize that photo was so low quality. I will update it tonight with something that is easier to understand.

PeteGriff65 7 years ago

Did you manage to get a better pic of the connection to the wires for the top/battery pack? Thanks

PeteGriff65 7 years ago

Great, thanks. Great idea by the way & thanks for the tips. nearly bought this on Glowy Zoey site all made, but at over $200 including shpping to UK, it's an expensive outfit!

otto1007 9 years ago

hi, I bought all the items on amazon, but the battery pack does not have anything to attach those male/female connector . I have no idea how you went from the little black and red wires into the battery pack- any help please...My son just loved your idea- he found it :). But I'm better with the sewing machine then wires :)

Thanks

jimcathers 10 years ago

i love this idea. Adorable, and it looks like it worked really well too! added to my favorites and following you now. I hope I remember next year when my baby boy will be walking by halloween! Thanks for the instructable!

Jakwiebus 3 years ago

This is GENIUS!!! Thanks for sharing!

kristenjadew 4 years ago

I would suggest ordering the LED LIGHT T connectors on Amazon. Saves time and eliminates the need for tools.

siliconghost 4 years ago

Absolutely! Those weren't readily available or didn't even exist when I originally made this Instructable. I use them all the time now myself.

Adtuggle1 4 years ago

My son really wants this costume for Halloween . He is 14 and wasn’t going to dress up this year so me being a mom and wanting to salvage what time I have left of his youth hood agreed eagerly to make this for him. I thought this would be a simple “glow stick” project. I know nothing about battery packs and soldering 🤦🏽‍♀️ Little did I know that would be what I was up against. I do have experience hanging LED lights in my daughters room with connectors.

Here is what I was thinking...he is 5’5” so two rolls of 16’ led strips to be safe? I was also thinking a 4 way connector right under the hood to connect the head, torso and arms together. Then a 3 way connector on the pants to connect both legs and a small piece to match up to the torso.

Hopefully this sounds like it could work so far??

My question is exactly what do I need to connect the pants LED strip to the Shirt LED strip?? Also how do I connect all that to the battery and battery pack? I was just planning to use a 9V battery with plenty of extra batteries (I don’t think he will be wearing it long) so does it need to be rechargeable? This is where I’m totally lost!

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks in advance!!

CityGirl70 10 years ago

Great costume! I love that the 12 volt DC is rechargeable. For those of you that dont solder you can use these connectors instead. http://www.amazon.com/Cross-Shaped-Splitter-Coupler-Connector/dp/B00LUSCQ3A/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1415914771&sr=8-2&keywords=4-way+Solderless+Connector

siliconghost 10 years ago

CityGirl, I had no idea such connectors existed! Thank you for letting me know! You just made this project from easy to SUPER EASY! I'm going to order some today and update my Instructable when they come in.

The DC PowerPack is awesome but just a couple of annoyances if you get it:

1.) It takes a long time to charge (like 10 hours)

2.) You must turn it on in order to charge. It doesn't say this anywhere in the instructions. I discovered through the online reviews. I was originally afraid to do this because the charge input and power output are the same power jack.

Aside from those two things, I highly recommend it!

JDLew326 4 years ago

So if you get this connector instead, how do I put this together? And what don’t I need from the original list now??? I’m so excited for this costume!

victorbyrne 5 years ago

I need some help. I'm working on the legs right now and trying to do a test connection and nothing is working. Is it possible I burned the LED strip?

Aaron Getting stronger 4 years ago

I found a light strip that uses a buckle link, which does not require welding and wiring, which is much simpler.

siliconghost 5 years ago

I don’t see +/- on the strips. Are you sure that is right?
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