More Maker Corp Shenanigans!

Presented with a challenge of designing something using "alternative e-textiles",  I immediately wanted to make a flower crown. Why? Because who doesn't love flower crowns?! Plus, a friend made me one around Easter time and I more than loved it. Adding lights/electricity to my own creation just sounded too awesome to pass up.

My first flower crown was made using materials from the recycle bin at The Exploratory: silver auto lining (or something like that), fake flowers/leaves, and old wire for wrapping. Once the crown was made, I added two LEDs in the front and a series of four in the back.

This first crown was cute and will never wilt, but I just HAD to make one with real flowers! So, I wandered around my neighborhood and picked some bugambilia (had to look up how to spell that one..). These are super beautiful vine bushes that grow everywhere in LA; the only catch is that you have to be very careful when picking/working w/ them b/c the spines will definitely draw blood. It is highly recommended to locate & snip off these thorns prior to any work w/ the bugambilia.

 Flowers in hand, I followed the vague directions my friend rattled off to me when she presented me w/ the fabulous, living flower crown:
1. Wrap the flower stem/vine w/ wire to make it flexible.
2. Bend stem to desired shape.
3. Wrap second flower stem/vine w/ wire and attach to first.  Bend to desired shape & repeat.
4. Have patience and be willing to work on this for at least an hour. You will probably get frustrated, but keep going!


Now for the e-textiles part of the living flower crown!
A ribbon seemed like an easy and aesthetically pleasing way to add multiple LEDs connected in series to one another. I also wanted a way to turn the LEDs on/off when the crown wasn't being worn, as well as a way to reuse the LED ribbon strip w/ a new crown (since real flowers do wilt..).


The series of photos below shows the design and construction process of the LED ribbon and battery case. The coin cell battery holder acts as a way to replace batteries and to provide the conductive pads for both sides of the battery (just like a traditional battery case!).

It was somewhat successful, but I ran into an interesting, unanticipated problem: out of five LEDs (one white, two blue, one yellow and one orange), only the yellow and orange LEDs on the ends would light up! The blue and white LEDs weren't even flickering.

Eventually I realized why this was happening, but I will leave it up to the reader to figure it out on your own ;) (it's a super cool physics problem).