Sea-Urchin Night Light!

I just got 100 zip ties yesterday and was wondering what cool thing to make out of them, and after some time, I decided why not make another night light, but in a different style! So out of that tiny little thought comes this awesome zip tie night light.

I got the idea when I saw a fountain in the mall with lights under it and I went there at night so it looked really beautiful, so I wanted to make a mini night lamp version of it.

I took me just about 2-3 hrs to make it! Thats all!

The total cost of this project was about 3-4$, its a cheap and easy project to do!

So lets start making it!

Step 1: Collecting the Materials

All you need for making this night light are :

35-50 Zip Ties
1 PIng Pong Ball (Preferabley the transpartent/white colored ones)
1 Multi color or single color LED
1 USB connector

Tools you need are :

Candle
Knife

Links to where you can purchase the materials :

Zip-Ties :
http://cgi.ebay.com/80-x-2-5mm-Nylon-Zip-Ties-Wraps-Cable-Wire-/200635184391?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2eb6c9f507

Ping Pong Ball :
http://cgi.ebay.com/5-X-Ping-Pong-Balls-Train-Table-Tennis-Sports-Games-New-/270765976223?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f0ae8ea9f

Multi Color LEDs :
http://cgi.ebay.com/50-Bright-Blink-Tri-Color-Red-Green-Blue-5mm-LED-lamp-/370284082309?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5636a6b485

(I know the LEDs are a bit expensive but they are for 50 pieces so...)

Step 2: Preparing the Zip Ties

First we will need to cut the zip ties into size... You can take 1 zip tie and place it beside the ping pong ball and see how long it is and if you think the size is fine then you can just skip this step...

For me the zip ties were too long, so I had to cut about a quarter of the ziptie to make it into the size I wanted....then I had to shape the edges into triangles so that it would be easier to use later and would look nice, after that I used some sand paper and sanded down the edges so that they are smooth.

Once you have done the above to 1 zip tie you will need to repeat it with the rest of the zip ties....I know it takes some time, but there is nothing we can do about it....

Have a look at the images to see how I prepared my zip ties...

Step 3: Preparing the Ping Pong Ball

Now we will need to prepare the ping pong ball so that we can attach the zip ties later on...

First cut the ping pong ball in half with a scissors or knife...

Then we will need to light up a candle and then take a knife and heat it up by putting it on the candle, so that the kife is hot and ready to cut through plastic...

Then you will need to take the heated up knife and pierce a hole in the center of the ping pong ball, we will be putting the top of the zip tie through the hole so it needs to be a thin and narrow long hole.

Keep repeating this procedure so that there are about 40 - 60 holes, have a look at the pictures to see how my ping pong ball looked after this step.

Step 4: Preparing the USB Powered LED

This is the electronic part in this project, the first step is to take the USB connector and cut the plastic coating on the wires....then the next step is to strip the red and black/brown wires because those two are the +5V and Gnd wires.

Here are what the colors represent :

Red : 5V
Brown/Black : Gnd
White : Data + (RX)
Green : Data - (TX)

So then you will need to connect the longer lead of the LED to the Red wire, and then the shorter lead to the black/brown wire.
The shorter lead is the - of the LED and the longer lead is the + of the LED.

So once you are done either soldering or just attaching them by hand, then you will need to wrap the entire thing in electrical tape, this will make the whole thing stronger and sturdier.

And by doing that you are done with this step!

(Usually multi color LEDs (Tri Color LEDs) have 4 leads 3 are +s for different colors and there is one common ground, but the link I gave in the gathering materials step is for Tri color LEDs with 2 leads only, these are not used for programming purposes but are used for just connecting it to the power supply and it will automatically change color)

Step 5: Attaching Everything Together

Now you have all the bits and pieces for this project you can just attach them together and you will be done with making the night light!

So now you need to take your modified zip ties and start putting them inside the holes through the inside of the ball, it would help if you started from the center and then head towards the edges...

When you are adding the zip ties one by one use some hot glue to secure each and every one of them in place!

Then once you are finished take the LED and glue it in place right underneath the heads of the zip ties inside the ball, then just take some cardboard and attach it under the half cut ping pong ball, after all this is done you will be finished with the lamp!

Then you just need to plug the night light into a USB port and enjoy the show!

If you make this please post pictures of it in the comments section of this instructable!
If you have any questions on this, just post them in the comments as well...

I have attached about 50 - 60 pictures tp this step, hope you like them!

Thanks for reading...