On Wednesday night right after dinner, it suddenly came to me that I am going to dress up as a glowing figure on Halloween. I started googling ready-made LED costumes. Naturally, I wanted to order one for hubby and one for myself but was politely advised ♥ that it may be too expensive to spend $200 for our costumes. “No problem. We can make them ourselves. How hard can it be right? I’m a lighting designer and you are an engineer 😀 “. Without further delay, I ordered the LED tape lights with simple remote controls and AA battery holders. USPS 2 days delivery.
My package arrived before lunch on Saturday on Halloween. Excited, I opened the package and examined the goods. As expected, the JST connectors to connect the LED tape lights to the battery holders were missing. No biggie. We went to a local hobby store to pick up several female and male JST connectors and solder. The catch was these small parts added up to about $60. The bright side was we were supporting local businesses.
It took us most of the afternoon to solder, layout, cut, wire and sew the LED tape lights to my hoodie and pants. Yes, “my” hoodie and pants because we ran out of time to make two 🙁 . It was pretty cool though when a neighbor’s dog was barking at me like nuts lol.
So, what are the lessons learned?
- There are always unanticipated issues with any projects, especially DIY projects. Start early.
- DIY projects usually end up costing more.
- Bring lots of patience. Limit cursing 😉 .