How to Make Rolling Snowflake Lights
Christmas lights have long been a part of an American tradition of celebrating the winter solstice. Many people decorate their homes with Christmas lights, and towns and cities decorate their entire area with them. Other predominantly Christian cultures have also adopted the tradition of decorative lighting. Christmas lights are most often strung together and fastened along edges of buildings, but they are also commonly found strung along wire frames, forming different Christmas-related shapes such as snowflakes, reindeer and Santa Clauses. Lights strung from moving frames, in shapes such as galloping reindeer and rolling snowflakes, are also common. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- 1 string of Christmas lights
- 16 feet of white stiff wire
- Pliers
- Wire cutters
- Superglue
- Measuring tape
Instructions
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Homemade Rolling Snowflake Lights
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1
Cut off a 6 foot section of wire with the wire cutters. Form the wire into the hexagonal shape that will be the frame of your snowflake.
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2
Use the pliers to create slight bends every foot in the 6 foot segment of wire. These make it easier for you to use your hands to shape the hexagon precisely.
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3
Bend the 6 foot segment of wire all the way around so that both ends are touching each other. Try to make the angles of each bend exactly the same. This will form a perfect hexagon.
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4
Glue the ends of the wire to each other
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5
Cut out three 2.5 foot sections of wire. Glue these to the hexagonal frame so that each section of wire connects two opposite corners of the hexagon. You should have 3 inches of wire protruding from each corner. Your wire frame should now resemble a snowflake.
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6
Cut the remaining wire in half and bend each of the segments in half at an angle slightly less than 90 degrees. These will form the base and support for your motor and snowflake.
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7
Glue each right angle segment onto each side of the motor so that the wire supports are perpendicular to the shaft of the motor. If you rest the motor and wire structure on the wire supports, the shaft of the motor should point almost parallel to the ground.
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8
Glue the center of the snowflake shaped wire frame to the shaft of the motor. When the motor is turned on, the wire frame will rotate.
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9
Glue the string of Christmas lights along the wires of the snowflake shaped frame. Because of the way Christmas lights are wired, you can use the wire cutters to cut off any excess lights and the ones attached to the snowflake will still work. When the motor and lights are plugged in, you will have a rotating snowflake shape!
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1
Tips & Warnings
Using white Christmas lights creates a more recognizable snowflake design.
References
- Photo Credit Juan Silva/Photodisc/Getty Images
