This weekend, I road-tripped from Sacramento to LA. And like any good maker, I tried to think of a project to work on during the 6+ hour drive…enter the abandoned EL wire. I figured instead of waiting for inspiration to strike, I’d instead geek-ify my purse. By lovingly adapting the TRON bag project by Ladyada & Becky Stern, I created the YATB (Yet Another TRON Bag).
In all honesty, it was the perfect car project. Plus, I fell in love with EL wire. Seriously, this stuff is the best. Super easy to work with and has the power to transform everyday items into geeky goodness, just like YATB.
So are you planning a long car trip and need something to pass the time? I would highly suggest making your own YATB! All you need is some clear thread, a needle, EL wire and some patience as you stitch, and stitch, and stitch, and stitch…
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, or even use Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for MakeCode, CircuitPython, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell with Google Hangouts On-Air is every Wednesday at 7:30pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.
