New Guide: PaperCrafted Crystal Gems on a NeoPixel Strand – Beginner Tutorial
Check out the latest Learn Guide from Erin St Blaine: fold beautiful paper-craft crystal gemstones and make diffusers for Adafruit’s NeoPixel Dot strand. The sample code has four different variable animation modes ready to go, and it’s easy to customize to add your own modes or tweak the ones in the code to create your own custom color combinations. From the guide:
These crystals are made from iridescent cellophane wrap (from the craft store, like you find in fancy gift baskets) that has been crinkled up and then run through a laminating machine. They can be cut by hand with a utility knife, or cut out on a vinyl cutting machine like a Cricut or Silhouette.
Then they are folded into shape, tab-in-slot style, and finally we add a small piece of iridescent cellophane inside to mimic the crystalline occlusions. This is surprisingly convincing — they look like the real thing, but are light and flexible — perfect for cosplay applications or just stringing up around the house.
The crystal patterns in this guide are designed to slot perfectly around Adafruit’s NeoPixel Dot strand. Each strand has 20 lights, and we’ve included crystal patterns in varying shapes and sizes, so you can customize the look of your strand.
Adafruit publishes a wide range of writing and video content, including interviews and reporting on the maker market and the wider technology world. Our standards page is intended as a guide to best practices that Adafruit uses, as well as an outline of the ethical standards Adafruit aspires to. While Adafruit is not an independent journalistic institution, Adafruit strives to be a fair, informative, and positive voice within the community – check it out here: adafruit.com/editorialstandards
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 7:30pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat and our Discord!
