How to make a night light from scrap materials with your own hands. Ideas for making beautiful homemade night lights from LEDs DIY LED night lights

A huge number of master classes encourage us to make souvenirs, small gifts and interior decorations with our own hands. Such little things add coziness to the interior and certainly please the eye. You can always proudly tell your admiring guests that this is the subject of your labor, a unique work.

In this article you will find a description of several ways to make a night light with your own hands. Why night light? Despite the fact that this item can be bought in a store, it’s always nice to show your imagination and make it yourself. Then the night light will not only give light, but also warm you with its warmth thanks to the fact that it is made with love and tenderness.

Night light “Starry Sky”

To make a night light with your own hands, you only need an assistant
material that can be found in every apartment. One of the advantages of this lamp is that it does not require a network connection. You can enjoy the starry sky without leaving home thanks to a small flashlight powered by little finger batteries.

So, you will need: a glass jar with a screw-on lid, thick foil, an awl, scissors, a tray (or any hard surface that is not afraid of scratches), a small flashlight.

Step 1. Take a sheet of foil and draw a diagram of the starry sky on it. If you want an exact copy, you will have to work hard. You can do this schematically, from memory.

Step 2. Place the sheet with the drawn diagram on a hard surface and use an awl to make holes. These will be our stars.

Step 3. Cut off all excess from the foil. The height of the sheet should be equal to the height of the jar. Carefully roll the sheet into a tube and insert it into the prepared jar.

Step 4. Place a flashlight on the bottom of the jar and turn it on.

All that remains is to wait for the night and enjoy the picture of the starry sky.

Lacy night light

Making a night light for your bedroom with your own hands is as easy as shelling pears. It will be beautiful

lamp using lace.

To make it you will need: some lace fabric, a clean jar, scissors and thread, a battery-powered flashlight.

Step 1. Take a clean and dry jar, wrap it with lace, it should not overlap or protrude beyond the edges of the jar. Cut off any excess.

Step 2. Sew the edges of the lace to create a sleeve. This can be done either using a machine or manually.

Step 3. Place the resulting sleeve onto the jar.

Step 4: Place the flashlight in the jar and screw on the lid.

You can make such a night light with your own hands in a matter of minutes, and its light will bring romance to your interior.

Night light with butterflies

Another option for a romantic dinner is a night light with butterflies.

To make it you will need: wire (about 50 cm), 2 sheets of white paper, a jar, an ordinary flat candle, butterfly stencils.

Step 1. Cut out several butterflies using stencils (6-7 pieces) from white paper. We roll the second sheet into a tube and decorate the edges beautifully (by curly cutting).

Step 2. Glue the butterflies onto the resulting tube in random order, leaving 2 pieces for the next step.

Step 3. Take the wire, wrap it around the can once, and then bend it so that you get a semicircle above the can itself. Using a thread, we tie the remaining 2 butterflies onto the resulting bend.

Step 4. Place a jar inside our tube with butterflies glued on.

Step 5. Place a lit candle in the jar and enjoy the magnificent picture.

Night light for a child

Making a children's night light with your own hands is also quite simple, the main thing is to show your imagination. For those who want to please their baby, the following is a homemade option.

You will need: a round lampshade or flashlight (or better yet, a New Year's garland), a lot of tulle or tulle, glue and patience.

Step 1. Take tulle and cut a lot of circles.

Step 2. Take the lampshade, it should be clean and dry. Next, take one circle of tulle at a time and fold it in the shape of a rose (take it by the middle, lifting the edges up - your rose is ready). Using glue, we fix the tulle on the lampshade, gluing it only with the middle. This way you will get a fluffy ball.

We hide a garland or a flashlight inside the lampshade and show the child beautiful magic. The baby will be delighted and will happily fall asleep in the light of such a night light.

If anyone has unused pieces of LED strips, suitable housings from garlands or other devices, you can assemble a small bedside night light using one (triple) LED 5050UW3C. The basis was taken from the diagram of an LED night light in a switch from Radio magazine; the block can be placed in a switch and used:

To simplify and compact the installation, I quickly made a small scarf, assembled it and tried it out:

The capacitor for the lamp is 0.33x630V - this is for an LED current of 20 mA. In the forum posts there is a simple table on the current consumption of a group of LEDs for different film capacitors. Photo of the finished LED lamp and signet:

In principle, it is quite enough as a night light, these LEDs have a brightness of 7000 mCandells (7 lm) and as a simple night light it is just right. This is an ordinary LED from a strip with an operating voltage of one element of 3.2 V - it has 3 crystals at 20 mA, there are 3 of them in each section connected in series at 12 V, they themselves do not heat up.

It turned out something like those night lights that are sold for children's cribs or for orientation in the dark at night. Well, the flask is a plastic pressed crumb, all the same supplies from Soviet garlands, 3 pieces left, I previously collected it on it.

I screwed it to the bottom of the case and also glued a disassembled industrial plug for reliability; they are in plastic, I take them apart and use them.

I tested the lamp for several hours, for greater reliability, I think the half-watt resistor should be replaced with 1 W, since although it does not heat up so much, it does heat up. Well, since the case allows it, I’ll put a small 100 uF electrolyte at the output of the diode bridge - it won’t hurt. Author - Igoran.

Discuss the article HOW TO MAKE A NIGHT LIGHT

Hundreds of different night lights are sold on the Internet, some of them are completely ordinary and not at all surprising, others are brighter. You can just buy it, or you can make a night light out of LEDs with your own hands.

Night light of their clothespins

We’ll start with a simple option and make a night light out of wood with our own hands. The great thing about this night light design is that there is almost no need for woodworking tools. We will need:

Wooden clothespins for clothes;
glue;

To assemble the electrical circuit:

Capacitor (we will calculate);
resistors R1 – 1 MOhm, R2 – we will select;
wire cross-section from 0.75 sq. mm;
fork;
LEDs or LED strip.

First you need to disassemble the wooden clothespin; to do this, you need to bend the spring and separate the wooden halves.

From the resulting pieces of wood you need to put together any shape that you like; below you will see different options for such night lights.

All this can be easily connected using a hot glue gun or regular PVA glue.

Depending on your idea, you can make any number of “floors” from these triangles. Here is an example of the implementation of such a night light on a multicolor LED strip.

A tube of suitable diameter was placed in the middle, covered with LED strip. If you don’t want to spend money on an LED strip, power supply, RGB controller, assemble everything yourself. Use a simple and cheap LED night light circuit powered by 220V.

This circuit is called: “LED power supply circuit with a quenching (ballast) capacitor.” There is a detailed article on our website about. The cost of such an assembly is minimal, and often you can find all the necessary components by disassembling several energy-saving lamps.

Resistor R1 is parallel to the capacitor; it has a fairly high resistance and does not affect the operation of the circuit. When the night light is turned off, it discharges the capacitor, protecting you from electric shock. R2 is an optional element; it will help you select the LED current more accurately. I recommend starting its selection from a value of 1 kOhm, measuring the current value of the LEDs and deciding on changing it.

Here is another interesting solution for making a night light using clothespins.

Night light made of wood

You can make a more organic version of a night light out of wood with your own hands. To make it you will need a minimum set of tools:

Cutting tool (hacksaw, grinder with wood disc or any other device);
drill;
a thick drill bit or drill bit with a diameter of at least 20 mm.

To make such a beautiful night light, you need a log, choose the diameter according to your needs. In the rounds, drill a hole in the center with a diameter of at least 20 mm. More is possible, it depends on the light source you will use.

In the center you need to insert a supporting bar, which acts as a frame. Attach wooden washers to it using any available method. You can use the same “PVA” or “Moment Joiner”.

As you may have noticed, the supporting part is flat, this is necessary so that you can place LEDs or a strip on it. Both options will fit here, and the LED option with a quenching capacitor will be more cost-effective.

It's easier to make an LED night light from one separate ring. The diameter of the hole needs to be increased to 70-150mm. Next, use a cutting disc on a drill to make two cuts for the diode strip. Next, use a chisel to clean the recess and glue the LED strip there. Here you can use ready-made solutions for tapes with a power supply.

Night light with LEDs made of plywood

Plywood is a natural material that is easy to process. You can use it to make any type of LED night light. In order to work with plywood you need to have a few tools and materials:

Jigsaw and drill;
glue, nails;
marking materials;

To make such a home zoo, you need to find any template, print it on paper and cut it out along the contour.

I found this template on the Internet by searching for “cat vector”. You will be offered a wide variety of vector images of kittens or any other animals you wish.

Once you have cut the plywood blank, the next step is to place the LED strip on the back. Try to place the light source closer to the center of the figure so that the light output is uniform. Take care to secure the night light.

To achieve the desired illumination, the night light should not be adjacent to the wall. To do this, glue/screw a wooden block to the back of our night light and hang it on any fastener, like these.

By the way, in the same way you can make a metric from plywood for your wife or child. Lately they have been in demand among DIYers.

Here are more sophisticated ideas for layered plywood lampshades for lamps and night lights. Their production is similar, but with the proper dimensions they can use an LED lamp.

Do not use incandescent lamps in wood, plywood or paper lamps. Due to the high heating temperature of the lamps, this can be a fire hazard.

Using an old power supply for a night light

Nowadays, so many mobile phones pass through the hands of each family member that you can easily find a couple of different chargers. You can make an LED night light out of them with your own hands. This circuit will be much better than a capacitor circuit:

Ready-made housing with plug for connection to the network;
galvanic isolation from the network - there will be no high-voltage potential at the capacitor terminals;
stabilized values of output voltage and current.

Underwater rocks

Case study: the manufacturer indicates on the charger body an output voltage of 5V and a current of 1A (may differ). When I made a night light for myself, I calculated the resistors for the LEDs for this voltage. The night light practically stopped shining after 2 nights. The LEDs dimmed, and the lampshade of the night light was always warm...

In addition, I initially, by mistake, soldered in resistors with a value slightly less than the required 100 Ohm. I became interested in why the LEDs were degrading and I measured the voltage. The charger gave out as much as 7 and a penny volts. Naturally, the LEDs were fed with twice the rated current.

Moral: do not believe what is written, but check the voltage and current of the LEDs with a multimeter.

Look at the diagram of an LED night light from a mobile charger.

To correctly assemble the circuit, select resistors that match the voltage of your charger and LEDs, read more. But be careful and do not repeat the mistakes of others, an incorrectly set current will kill the LED.

As a result, you can get a similar LED night light. If desired, you can hide the diodes with a diffuser from a broken LED lamp.

More details on how to make a night light from LEDs and a smartphone charger are described in the video.

Many phones come with chargers with a USB connector. You can buy ready-made LED modules in USB flash drive format and get a simple LED night light. True, you will not get pleasure from designing, developing and assembling a custom night light.

A night light is the simplest and most harmless device that you can make with your own hands. On the other hand, its simplicity and lack of requirements for brightness make it possible to turn a simple and ordinary thing into a real work of art.

At the same time, you can implement many ideas, such as iridescent colors on an RGB strip, or turning on a night light when there is a clap or depending on the light level. Look at the LED acoustic switch diagram.

The circuit is quite interesting to build. As a microphone, a microphone from a mobile phone or computer headset is suitable; common Soviet transistors - KT315G reverse conduction, and KT3107B - direct conduction, can be replaced with any analogues.

Resistor R3 sets the operating point of the transistor and, accordingly, the sensitivity of the circuit. Transistor VT2 is the second stage of the amplifier, and capacitor C2 is electrolytic, pay attention to this.

Modern night lights are convenient and ergonomic lighting sources. They complement the interior of any room well and can become a real decorative element. In a children's room, a night light will help the baby feel safe, and a hand-made lamp can also be presented as a handmade souvenir.

Benefits of a night light

The advantages of a homemade lamp can be considered the following points:

creating a special pleasant atmosphere on the eve of sleep;
the ability to navigate in the dark without waking up family members with the main light;
reducing children's fear of the dark;
energy savings;
adding decorative elements to the overall interior;
additional visual effects to develop children's imagination.

Night light starry sky"

One of the most current and romantic night light models, to one degree or another, imitates an endless cluster of constellations in the night sky. You can make such a light source yourself from scrap materials. It does not need to be connected to the network, because a regular flashlight with little batteries is enough.

To create such a night light, you need a glass jar with a lid of any size, thick foil, scissors, an awl, a small flashlight and any surface that is not afraid of damage, for example, a tray.

Draw a star map on the foil. You can arrange celestial objects schematically or following the real arrangement of stars. It all depends on your desires and level of effort. If you are making a similar night light for a child, you can limit yourself to the image of the constellations Ursa Major and Ursa Minor.
Place the sheet on a flat surface and use an awl to make holes. These will be the luminous stars.
Trim the foil so that its height matches the height of the jar. Roll the sheet into a tube and insert it into a glass container.
Place a flashlight at the bottom of the jar and turn it on. The walls and ceiling will immediately be illuminated by the beautiful glow of the night light.

There is another option to make a children's night light that imitates the night sky. It can be made from an ordinary tin can. Such a container should be cleaned, the label removed, painted in any pleasant color and several holes made with an awl. Inside the jar you need to put a flashlight, a garland or a lit candle. It is advisable to cover the edges of the jar with a plastic lid so that none of the family members are injured.

This version of the lamp can be an ideal romantic gift or bedroom decoration. To make a night light with your own hands, as a decorative element and a light source, you need to purchase a lace fabric. It can have different colors and patterns, depending on your preferences. You will also need a dry and clean jar, scissors with thread, and a flashlight with batteries.

Wrap the container with lace so that it does not protrude beyond the edges and does not overlap the edges. Remove excess parts.
Sew the edges of the lace to create a sleeve that matches the diameter of the jar. You can work on a sewing machine or by hand.
Place the sleeve on the jar, place the flashlight inside and screw on the lid.

Using available materials, it is quite possible to build a large homemade lamp that can decorate not only a nursery or bedroom, but the entire room. To create such a miracle, you will need an original tin or plastic tea can. You also need scrapbooking paper, stationery cardboard, a paper knife, acrylic paints, glue, sandpaper, and masking tape. And since in this case we are making not just a night light, but a lamp, we need to prepare a light bulb socket, an incandescent light bulb itself, a power cord and a switch.

Cut out a sheet of scrap paper that can be used to completely wrap the jar. Please note that the bottom of the tea bag will be the top of the lamp.
Remove the lid from the jar, lean it against a piece of paper, trace it with a pencil and cut it out.
Connect the cut out template to the wrapped jar using masking tape. Trace a circle with a pencil.
Using your markings, cut out the window. Sand the edges with sandpaper.
Re-trace the oval template onto the cardstock. Draw stripes inside it and cut out some of them.
Glue the cardboard to the jar on the inside.
You can decorate the outside of the jar as you wish, using paper, cardboard, acrylic threads, lace, etc.
At the back of the lamp, cut a circle for the power cord. You need to make a hole in the lid for the cartridge.
Assemble a socket with a light bulb, a switch and an electrical plug into a circuit.
Place the socket in the jar, screw in the light bulb.
Assemble the lamp and check its operation by plugging it into an outlet.

Night light for a child

When creating a lamp for a children's room at home, the most important thing is to use your imagination as much as possible. In addition, you can involve your baby in creating a night light and combine business with pleasure.

Prepare a glass ball or spherical shade for the lamp. You will also need a large amount of tulle or tulle, glue and several lanterns, or better yet, a garland for the Christmas tree.

Cut out a large number of small circles from the fabric.
Take a dry and clean lampshade, gather circles of tulle or tulle into a “rosette”. Fix the fabric flower on the lampshade with glue, dropping just a little into the very middle of the rose. This way you will create a fluffy ball.
Place a flashlight or inside the lampshade. Show the result to your baby and watch his joyful reaction.

LED night light

To make an unusual and beautiful LED night light that can be placed in a nursery, you need to prepare a pair of transparent plastic tubes with unequal diameters. You will also need LEDs with the desired brightness and color range. Also prepare glass pebbles, wire, a larger cork, superglue, pliers and a board for the LEDs.

Bend the ends of the LEDs with pliers.
Connect all LED bulbs with a piece of wire in a parallel circuit, observing polarity.
Connect the ends of the wire to the board.
Check the working part of the night light, if the LEDs get very hot, add a resistor to the circuit.
Glue the tubes one into the other. Place decorative balls into the void.
Place the LED plug onto the tube. If the diameter of the plug is larger than the tube, make a seal from a leather belt.
The LED night light is ready, you can turn it on.

Safety of night lighting

As is clear from the above examples, there are a huge number of designer models of homemade lamps. There are different techniques for working with decorative materials to create a variety of lighting effects.

However, behind the beauty of the night light, you should not forget about the safety of yourself and your family. To this end, you should be especially careful when considering the power supply circuit for the light source.

Many home craftsmen believe that compact nightlights have minimal power and low voltage, which in itself should protect against problems. This is not entirely true. A voltage of 12 volts for a halogen light bulb or 3 volts for an LED power supply does not pose a threat to the human body. However, if a short circuit occurs, an electrical arc will form at the point of contact. At the same moment, a current will pass through the wires, which can heat the insulation to the point of fire. In this case, the power supply may operate in overload mode, but the shield will not react. That is why it is necessary to protect the wiring of such light sources with a fuse. After the electrical wiring at the output of the power supply is protected, you need to pay attention to the electrical safety of the board itself. It is enclosed in a reliable housing, which is especially important for lamps in children's rooms, where children may try to disassemble the night light.