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Fairy light head dress?

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Flyingdogguitar

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alicevicar.jpg
alicevicar.jpg
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Hi guys,
can anyone out there give me any tips on buliding a small set of fairy lights that could be powered by a very small battery. It would need to be woven into a Brides Head headress. My amateur dramatics group is putting on a stage version of the 'Vicar of Dibley'. Sorry if this doesn't mean anything to those of you who live in other countries.
It needs to be about 18-24" long. And powered by a small battery pack that can either be clipped to the actresses wig, or her Bridal Gown.

If anyone has any clever ideas on how to make something like this I'd be most grateful. I've done soldering in the past, but I don't know agreat deal about this sort of thing. If any bright sparks (No pun intended!) know how to construct such a thing? I could pop to my local Maplins store and buy the components and get to work.

Kind Regards
Dave
 
I'd definately go with LEDs - depending on how many lights you need you may be able to power them all with just a tiny coin cell in the head-dress itself. Another important design spec is that you need to determine how long the batteries need to last. If it is a 5 minute appearance then great. If it will be on stage for a full hour then you will likely need much more battery power.

So how many lights would you like and how long do you want them lit?
 
So how many lights would you like and how long do you want them lit?
Another very important thing to consider is - How bright do you want the lights ?

As this is for a stage performance, will the subject be brightly lit by the stage lighting?
This could be a problem for low power LEDs.
Also be aware that LEDs have a fairly limited "viewing angle", although this may be an advantage as this could create a flashing or sparkle effect as the performer moves around.

JimB
 
Hi, thanks for the replies. I thought it might have been un-technical to warrant much interest.

It will only be illuminated for a maximum of a couple of minutes, and yes there will be tungsten stage lighting on too. The string of lights only needs to be about 18-20" long. If it can be powered by a small flat battery so much the better.
 
With stage lighting, you will not be able to make little lights on a head dress bright enough for anyone to see that they are lights instead of just pieces of glass.
LEDs shine fairly brightly but only in one direction. LEDs on shoes for little kids are bright in darkness but can barely be seen in daylight (or with stage lighting).
 
Regarding the tungsten stage lighting.

There is an old saying “If you can’t beat them, join them”.

You could use multi-faceted mirrored beads to reflect the stage lights like a disco ball. Maybe too bright and you can’t turn them off.
 
I purchased a string of smd leds on a flexible strip like this one for a hat decoration. It worked well off a 9 volt battery and had several flashing patterns it scrolled through. Has a little mcu or something. A variety of colors available also.

**broken link removed**
 
Strips of LED lights are demo'd and sold in stores. They are not very bright when seen in store lighting so they will not be bright enough in stage lighting.
An LED is made brighter by using its case to focus and concentrate the beam into a narrow angle that you do not want on a head dress. Instead you want the light to shine all around.
 
Depending of the light intensity EL wire could be a winner. Problem is that it cannot compete with daylight / strong lights. Even if used at high power for few hours I am affraid it could not overcome the limitation. Anything you will see are pictures of performances under no or little light.

In line with the above, do not even consider the luminiscent ribbon (similar material to EL wire) used in planes on the floor along both sides of the aisle. Their luminosity is supposed to be enough in an emergency when lights are off.

I tried to find a picture taken here in my office, of a young girl with a hairdress made with EL . Seems to be lost. Sorry.

This was taken almost in the dark. BTW not an easy thing to take pictures of (focus of the camera is the secret).



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