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.

Check out the full tutorial here: https://learn.adafruit.com/no-solder-papercraft-crystal-light-strand