New Guide: Paper Craft Crystal Gems Tutorial #cosplay #stevenuniverse
New tutorial from Erin St. Blaine: create amazing cosplay glowing crystal gems! From the guide:
Crystal Gems will always save the day!
Create a stunning paper craft crystal from laminated cellophane wrap. Add NeoPixels and watch it sparkle!
We’ve included two different build sizes in this tutorial — one crystal large enough to house a Circuit Playground Express, and one with a single NeoPixel illuminating the crystal. This project can be run from a battery for cosplay applications (the crystal on Gandalf’s staff perhaps?) or plugged in to the wall via USB for a more permanent installation.
We’ve also included a Steven Universe Warp-Pad 3D printable base, so your Crystal Gems can be displayed in style. The possibilities are endless!
We love these gems. They’re easy to make with a few easily found tools. The main ingredient is cellophane gift wrap that’s been run through a laminating machine, which creates a perfect material for paper crafting — stiff enough to hold up but easy to cut with scissors or a utility knife. You can also get fancy and use a vinyl cutting machine to create perfect gems in multiple sizes. 3d print a base, or use the gem in a hanging lamp, or place it on top of your staff for a Gandalf-style cosplay. Such a cool project!
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, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, 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 is every Wednesday at 7pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.
