New Acrylic Ornaments

[Dee Gallo]

Hi Everyone,

I've been playing around with acrylic ornaments to fit onto little Christmas tree lights, so I thought I'd share. One is a typical snowflake design, one is a Celtic knot shared here by (?) thanks, and one is my Red Coin logo which will be used as a Christmas card insert.

I found the blue and green lights show off the designs best, and you have to make sure the hole sits right on the brightest part of the bulb. It's not easy to get a good picture, but you get the idea. They look a lot nicer and more colorful in person of course.

cheers, dee

[David Dustin]

Dee,
Those look really good.

What size bulbs are you using?

Thanks for the great idea
David

[Frank Corker]

Very pretty Dee - they look very cool

[Josiah Gallo]

Very cool idea... how do you get it to attach to the lights?

[Dee Gallo]

Thanks guys-

I got some LED lights they labeled as "#8" and they measure 3/16" across. They were $6.50 for a string of 60 indoor/outdoor at Walmart. We don't use these small light normally, so I had to buy some to see how they work.

I made the hole .19" so it just snugly sits on the bulb end. Some of the bulbs are fractionally smaller, so I think I'll be changing that to maybe .185". I used 1/8" cast acrylic.

Now that it's darker here, the lights are showing up a lot stronger...duh. Here's a picture of a red one and one of the mah jong related ones a customer requested:

cheers, dee

[Anthony Welch]

I'm wanting to try something like this, but not knowing how LED lights emit heat like incandesant lights do. Is there a fire potential doing these like this?

[Michael Hunter]

"Normal" LED lights run almost cold - much safer than incandescents for this sort of thing.

(Some ***very*** high power LEDs (e.g. car bulb replacements) do run warm, but still much cooler than their incandescent equivalents)

[Dee Gallo]

I am under the impression that Christmas tree lights are not supposed to set your tree on fire from heat, and LEDs are even cooler than regular lights. I have read of other Creekers who made this type of ornament and never heard of any problems. I know they make plastic "covers" for lights in all kinds of shapes so they must be safe (?) I have seen lights that even come with little flower shaped things built right onto the lights. Maybe someone smarter than I can comment on this?

[Frank Corker]

Dee, leave your lights on overnight, if your house is still there in the morning it's okay to do it guys!

[Dave Johnson29]

I made the hole .19" so it just snugly sits on the bulb end. Some of the bulbs are fractionally smaller, so I think I'll be changing that to maybe .185". I used 1/8" cast acrylic.


Dee, what a great idea, you artistic people here amaze me daily.

Fortunately I have a skill or two that can come into play. You can get LED 2-piece mounts. Here's a link to some 6mm ones, but you can also get them for the smaller LEDs too.

The LED goes inside the left one and through the mount material then you push the right side piece on to click into place. Even though the LEDs are mounted to wires you should still be able to use these.

Using these you will not be dependent on a tight fit for the LED as the holders take care of that when pushed together.

Radio Shack will charge a lot for a few but try mouser.com or digikey.com

[Dee Gallo]

Hi Dave,

I had to read that twice to "get" it, but I'm not sure it would work. These lights are cylindrical in shape, not bulbs like traditional Christmas lights. The acrylic must be positioned over the tip of the bulb to light up the engraving well. If you put them at the base of the bulb (near the wire section) it does not light up very brightly. So I think I'm stuck with my low-tech solution.

I have had the lights on for about 6 hours so far and the acrylic pieces are not even warm to the touch. I'll let you know if the house is gone in the morning via carrier pigeon, Frank.

[Scott Challoner]

Beautiful work Dee.

If you need a tighter fit: One thing I have done is flatten one side of the hole the LED goes through. Then draw an oval next to it. The "bridge" that's left flexes and acts like a clamp. You will probably have to play around with sizes and distance from the hole until you get something snug without being too tight.
I haven't actually done this with Christmas lights, I did it with a bird feeder I made to go over a shepards hook. I used impact modified acrylic but I think it would work with cast too. The acrylic is very flexible when cut thin enough. 99994

[Dee Gallo]

Thanks, Scott, I'm going to try that tomorrow! It will help in case people have different sized bulbs than the ones I'm using. It should be easy to hide the extra hole in the designs.

cheers, dee

[Steve Clarkson]

I made the hole .19" so it just snugly sits on the bulb end. Some of the bulbs are fractionally smaller, so I think I'll be changing that to maybe .185". I used 1/8" cast acrylic.




Dee,

Those are absolutely BEAUTIFUL!!! And I think you have stumbled upon a GREAT idea. I think this will be a huge seller with your customers this year.

However, I still can't visualize how you are attaching them to the lights...any possible way you can draw the side view? You mention it SITS snuggly on the bulb.....is it snuggly enough that when my dogs wagging tail hits the tree it won't fall off?

Thanks so much for sharing!

Steve

[Dee Gallo]

Okay, Scott's idea is a winner! I made an oval next to a flattened circle and when you push the ornament onto the light, it stays put even if you shake the string of lights (with a dog's tail or whatever).

I hope you can see it in the pix, but they are kind of blurry. Also, I found the extruded looks like crap compared to the cast, so I don't recommend it for this application.

Here are some sideways pix so you can see how it works.

cheers, dee

[Lonny Meeks]

Those are very nice. Brings back memories of when we made things for our Christmas trees vs. buying all this commercial stuff.

Thank you so much for sharing!

[Dave Johnson29]

I had to read that twice to "get" it, but I'm not sure it would work.


Hi Dee,

:confused: I should stick to things I know. You are of course correct the mounting would preclude any sideways light. DUH!

I am glad you and Scott figured out something that DID work. :)

[Dee Gallo]

In case anyone wants it, here is a zipped file of snowflakes and a few candy canes, on a 12" x 12" format since that's the size acrylic I have.

If you want to resize the shapes, just 1)remove the hole/oval first, 2) resize and 3) replace the holes so they remain the right size. BTW- the candy canes come out nice too, with the light in the center of the bow.

cheers, dee

[Steve Clarkson]

Thank you sooooo much! I was so happy to see that it had the cool attachment holes! Yea!

[Scott Erwin]

Dee,

Can you post the snowflakes in an earlier version of Corel please. V12 or earlier...Thank you.

[Dee Gallo]

Sorry, I meant to do this before - here it is in CD version 10.

Meanwhile, I was not happy with clipart I found so I made up my own so I now have a dozen snowflakes. If anyone wants them I can post them too.

cheers, dee

[Dee Gallo]

Here are the new snowflakes, have a good time with them!

cheers, dee

[Steve Clarkson]

Dee,

Have you attempted to make any 3D snowflakes? I've been sitting here since yesterday (not literally!) trying to figure out some way to do it and I was wondering if you tried to come up with anything.

And thanks for the snowflakes.....for those of us that are creatively challenged, it's a godsend!

Steve

[Frank Corker]

Meanwhile, I was not happy with clipart I found so I made up my own so I now have a dozen snowflakes. If anyone wants them I can post them too.

cheers, dee


Well for all of those who want some shapes, maybe these will be of use to you. Dee I hope they will help you too.

[Dee Gallo]

Thanks, Frank, the more the merrier..... unless they are real. We already got 6 inches of snow for Halloween - urgh!

Steve, no 3D designs, sorry! I have to control how many directions I can go in at one time!

cheers, dee

[Pete Simmons]

Dee:

Beautiful ornaments and thanks for posting the designs.

If you or I were to sell these at a craft show what price would you expect?

Say 16 of them to a 12x18 $7 piece of plexi, maybe 1or 2 minutes of laser time each. Looks to me that I would need to price them higher than people might want to pay.

What are your thoughts?

Of course making them for family and friends is very good also!!

[Dee Gallo]

Pete,

I don't know about pricing, but I can get 25-30 on a 12 x 12 sheet and it takes about 30 minutes to burn. At $7 per sheet, they cost me about 25-30¢ each I guess. At the $1 per minute fee, that's $30 for 30 ornaments. Even at $1 each, you're making something. I just got an email from someone who wants to buy my whole Mah Jong collection of 40 different ones for $50. I'm putting some on eBay to see what the market will bear.

That said, I've seen regular ornaments stamped out of plastic that sell for anywhere from 50¢ to $3, so I don't think there's a "standard" out here. Even so, none of them go on lights like these do.

So, maybe someone with actual selling experience can chime in. They are pretty small items, but then again, they are unique and not available anywhere commercially.

cheers, dee

[james burchfield]

im trying to cut ornaments out of acrylic however it only cuts through all the way on the first one the others are only partly cut though and i iether have to force them out of the sheet or i cant get them out at all.

ive tried to lower the speed as the power and ppi are maxed does anyone have an idea what the problem might be

[Gary and Jessica Houghton]

These are files that have been posted here on the creek in the past...of the 3D variety.

[Dee Gallo]

im trying to cut ornaments out of acrylic however it only cuts through all the way on the first one the others are only partly cut though and i iether have to force them out of the sheet or i cant get them out at all.

ive tried to lower the speed as the power and ppi are maxed does anyone have an idea what the problem might be

James, I don't know what kind of machine you have, but I'm using a 35w Epilog Mini with 1/8" cast acrylic. My settings are straight out of the book:
raster: 100 sp/ 55 power
vector: 12 sp/ 100 power/ 5000 freq.

I leave the paper on the back but peel it off the lasered side. I find it eliminates the flashback.

I would check the level of your table to see if it is the same all over. Just put your manual focus thingy on and move it around to see if it's even. Sounds like it might not be focused correctly.

But I'm sure one the techie types will be able to help you there.

[Steve Clarkson]

These are files that have been posted here on the creek in the past...of the 3D variety.

So if we put Dee's idea for the hole in these, do you think they can be attached to a Christmas light?

[Roy Nicholson]

Thanks Dee

Regards



Roy N.

[Jim Good]

I think those are awesome! It really opens up some ideas. I wonder how laserbuzz designs might work? It might be worth trying.

How did the glowboards work out with your designs? Do you think they will sell?

Thanks for the flakes!

Jim

[Dee Gallo]

I think those are awesome! It really opens up some ideas. I wonder how laserbuzz designs might work? It might be worth trying.

How did the glowboards work out with your designs? Do you think they will sell?

Thanks for the flakes!

Jim

You're welcome, Jim, and everyone - I've gotten so much from this forum these designs are the least I can do to give back.

For those who have not seen or tried Jim Good's Glowboards, DO IT! They are great. The bases are small and inconspicuous, they come with an acrylic blank, and his prices are excellent. Everyone who has seen mine loves them. I've sold some of the minis (3") for fundraisers since they are so inexpensive. Here is a picture of the 5 1/2" model. They put out a good amount of light too!

I don't have any LaserBuzz patterns, but I imagine they would work just fine as long as they are not too big and heavy. So that opens up all kinds of ideas, such as military seals, logos, school mascots, etc. The small hole is easy to hide. I'm planning to do some with other designs for things like flowers, butterflies, other occasions like Valentine's Day, Easter, St. Patrick's Day, 4th of July, weddings, etc. That way people can leave their lights up for all kinds of decorations, parties and celebrations.

cheers, dee

[David Dustin]

Dee,
Thanks for this wonderful idea.

We created a christmas tree vector file and cut some out of 1/4 inch acrylic, then lased an image of one of the most beautifull girls in the world (my grand daughter) with some text.

The results are pretty good.

David

[Pete Simmons]

David:

Very nice! What are you using for the light source?

[Dee Gallo]

Nice job, David! I did one with a photo on it too, but I am trying to stay away from doing one-offs on this one. But for your own family, it's great!

Be careful, everyone will want to be on your "family" tree now!

cheers, dee

[David Dustin]

David:

Very nice! What are you using for the light source?

Thanks for the compliments.
It was a white christmas tree bulb.

David

[David Dustin]

Photo's are really hard to get right on extruded acrylic.

David

[Jackie McGowan]

Wow Dee those are really cool. Thanks for the flakes. I'm gonna try some :)

[Dee Gallo]

Hi all,

I found out that some of the mini-lights available are bigger than the ones I got, so I changed the design for the hole to include a second oval opposite the first. This provides the ability to expand the hole a little or a little more, to allow for either size.

This should allow your ornament to be used with either the newer LED shape or the traditional bulb-shape.

cheers, dee

[Frank Defert]

Dee,

Just had to say THANK YOU. These snowflakes are incredible.

My daughter and I are making all the ornaments this year for our tree and you have us off to a great start.

Frank

[Dee Gallo]

Hey everyone,

I just found an old thread which is similar to this one, but people state what their prices are (in 2005 and such). I found it interesting reading, I wonder if the prices would still be the same today?

Since this is the time of year to be making them, I thought I'd add to this thread now: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=26505&highlight=pricing+ornaments

cheers, dee

[Jackie McGowan]

Dee,
I had already seen your ornaments here (and thought they were way cool). Then I was wondering through Michaels and this snowflake ornament caught my eye. I picked it up and guess what, it lights up! I immediately thought of your ornaments. I bought one (to investigate it). What it is, is a color changing led module (one bulb-battery operated) but it has a suction cup on it to put it on a window. They have a clear plastic molded flake on the lightbulb (bulb goes into the plastic flake but not all the way through the front). It was made in china. I have never seen these before. I was wondering if anyone sells this color change led module with the suction cup so we could put our lasered ornaments on it. (the lasered ornaments look way cooler) Does anyone know? I could post a photo if that would help.

[Dee Gallo]

Wow, Jackie, this just keeps getting more and more interesting! Yes, please post a picture, I'd like to see what this gizmo looks like. Our closest Michael's is 60 miles away...

BTW - this past week I sold over 200 ornaments to various people, at $1 each, which cost me about 20¢ each plus 1 minute each laser time. I'm not sure but it might be too cheap. Good thing I'm not in this for the money!

cheers, dee

[Jack Harper]

Wow, Jackie, this just keeps getting more and more interesting! Yes, please post a picture, I'd like to see what this gizmo looks like. Our closest Michael's is 60 miles away...

BTW - this past week I sold over 200 ornaments to various people, at $1 each, which cost me about 20¢ each plus 1 minute each laser time. I'm not sure but it might be too cheap. Good thing I'm not in this for the money!

cheers, dee

May I recommend sets of three for $5.00. Makes it worth your while and gives a better since of value.

[John Ness]

Hi Dee,

Thanks for posting the artwork in Corel. Would it be possible to get the artwork in version 10? I wasn't able to open with my version.

Thanks,
John Ness

[Dee Gallo]

Hi Dee,

Thanks for posting the artwork in Corel. Would it be possible to get the artwork in version 10? I wasn't able to open with my version.

Thanks,
John Ness

Hi John,

Check post #21 - I posted the Corel 10 file there.

Have fun, dee

[Frank Corker]

I knew I had a few more here. There are three pages full of different flake shapes. In version 9 upwards.

[Jackie McGowan]

Hi,
Here are the photos of the snowflake light I was talking about :)
Does anyone know where one might get the light unit part with suction cup?

[Dee Gallo]

I knew I had a few more here. There are three pages full of different flake shapes. In version 9 upwards.

Thanks, Frank- Those will save me a lot of time. I only got one page, though, not 3.... but there are so many there it's fine! I just had a local art gallery ask me to bring some in to sell. That's a first for us laserheads around here (okay, just me), since they usually only have paintings, sculptures, jewelry and woodwork.

Jackie - that's pretty cool - what is the diameter of the light, is it just like a regular tree light? If you could get the suction cup part, you would have a ton of possibilities. How much was the whole unit in the first place? Does it come apart?

cheers, dee

[Dee Gallo]

Update: the snowflake file (all three pages) came out fine when I did it on the pc - on the mac, the 2nd and 3rd pages were not there.. weird. So thanks again and again, Frank!

Also, I just saw that the Brookstone gift catalog has those suction cup snowflake lights for $14.95 each and hanging ones at 5 for $39.95 - yikes!

[Jackie McGowan]

The suction cup snowflake I got at Michaels was 3.99 and it takes two batteries but came with four. It does not come apart. It has an on off switch. It's an LED lightbulb. The bulb itself is about 3/16" diameter. The Snowlake is 4" Diameter and it is glued onto the base that the bulb sticks out of.

[Steve Clarkson]

Dee, I looked online at Brookstone and didn't see that ornament.....although they did have a 3 LED twirling light ornament holder on sale for $10 (regularly $15)....a little pricey, but I wonder if it would work.

Also, a little off this topic....but I just bought a GE night light from Walmart for $2.88 that plugs into the wall and has an LED light. The actual nightlight is a REALLY ugly acrylic thing.....but when I got home and opened it up, sure enough it popped right out very easily. It takes 1/4" thick material (I assume we would use acrylic) and the opening is 1 1/2" wide.....but I assume you could take say a 5" wide piece of acrylic and just have a 1 1/2" piece on the bottom where it would go in. Oh yea....and it's a yellowish LED.....not my favorite.

[Steve Clarkson]

Oh, another thing I picked up (I'm going with the Christmas theme on this thread.....not necessarily the acrylic ornament theme.....) was a "gel cling" photo holder ornament for $1. They have a ton of these "gel clings" in all shapes and sizes......my question is: are they laserable and if so, does anyone know where to get sheets of it. There is nothing on the package to indicate what it's made of or who makes it.......except for my favorite saying that seems to be on EVERYTHING......"Made in China".

[Pete Simmons]

Just picked up 15 LEDs on a string from Walgreens that run on 2 AA batteries.

They look like they might be an easy light source for the ornaments.

$3.99

[Steve Clarkson]

Thanks for the tip Pete!

[Bill Cunningham]

I just seen those suction cup/led snowflakes at Costco ! Their pretty cheesy looking and The first thing that entered my mind was ..Hmmm these things (obviously made in China) will be showing up in a dollar store anytime soon.. Then, you can put some nice stuff on them..

[Kerry Smith II]

Are the Corel files the actual size you all are cutting these?

Thanks

[Phil Garcia]

Thanks, what a great idea.... I'll have to give it a try!!:eek:

[Dee Gallo]

Are the Corel files the actual size you all are cutting these?

Thanks

Sorry for my late response, I've been out of town for week. The files I posted for these snowflakes are the exact size I made, which is about 1 3/4" across - some larger, some smaller. They don't overpower the tree but show up well. I did resize them for someone who wanted big ones, which is easy if you remove the hole first, group and resize, then replace the hole.

cheers, dee