Practical Creativity with LED Rope

"Necessity is the mother of invention," and out-of-nowhere creativity is in there somewhere too. Early this year I went to Fun Spot and got the largest Yard O Ale cups I'd ever seen. Had to have it. Then came the question, "Now that you have it, what are you going to DO with it, because you sure as hades ain't drinkin' out of it!" The answer? Build a lamp or use it a obscure living room sculpture. Ok, both. Sold.

Before we go further there's very good reason why I opted for these projects. After looking at the way I did things in the past, a host of small house and apartment living sources, and thinking some about the environment, using new tech in a creative and efficient way seemed like a perfect match for my life direction and "less is more" goals. Energy efficient, packable, smart lighting was both desirable and practical...and different. It would take a little refining, but it would be worth it in lower energy consumption, lower cost, and creative challenge.

The roughly 4 foot tall size cup lent well to a floor lamp and I'd had notions of automated lighting and tinkering with rope lights. When I returned to Huntsville, it was off to Target for some outdoor rope light ($10 for about 14 feet). Throw in some glass beads to weight the bottom, drape rope light until it balanced, and viola, modern art sculpture thingy that puts out low light for about $25. AND it's packable and cheap to replace.

While I was happy with the initial build, the light output wasn't enough and I'd wanted to use LED (Light Emitting Diode) rope. LED runs cooler, lights brighter, and is high tech cool anyway. Problem was, there was none to be found over the summer. Fast forward to September's move back to Orlando and what what do I spy at Target? LED rope in 9 foot sections, just in time for Christmas, AND timers. Perfect. Rope light out, LED on, timer set to come on in the evenings and strategically in the morning to wake me up, then shut off at sun up. Gadzooks it really worked! It even helped my chronic insomnia some.

During many trips to Walmart and Target I'd seen these pop-up canopies for camping, parties, etc. Some were pictured with rope light strung around the top for night use. The proverbial gears in my melon turned again. What if I mounted LED rope, on one of those canopy camp chairs and put the whole thing on a timer like the Yard O Ale lamp? This could work, and it did.

After some hunting I found a canopy chair (to match my oh SO chic, majority green camp gear in the bedroom) at Sports Authority. Green, spare pockets, TWO cup holders, and on sale. Oh, does somebody like me! Carefully wrapped and mounted the rope up the sides, then wrapped the extra around the bottom. Plugged in and set the timer, and it worked. I now had a micro-cabana/light in the bedroom to enjoy surfing the net. Happy happy joy joy!

Keep in mind both LED and traditional rope light both run cool, so you can use them near outdoor textiles without a fire risk. I recommend LED simply because it runs cooler than rope light and has better specs.

Hope you all enjoyed these fun little projects and try them for yourselves. Until next time.