Mini-Lightsaber #DIY

My son is a Star Wars fanatic and my husband recently volunteered for a kid's camp where they had Star Wars as their cabin theme. I wanted to come up with a fun way for the kids to have "night lights" that resembled lightsabers. These are what I made and a step by step on how you can make your own.

PS...I've been asked by my son to make a few more. PPS...These would be adorable party favors. 

First, lets talk about what you need. I found these Finger Lights at Five Below for $1 a piece. I know you can get more at a dollar store, but those are made differently and won't work the same way. You'll see why. Buy colors of lightsabers {i.e. green, blue, red} and make sure they shine bright before you buy. {I had one that was pretty dull from low batteries}.

Next up, Sharpies! I used a Silver Metallic and a Black fine point sharpie.

 Bendy straws. I used one for each mini lightsaber. The color of the straw should match the color of the light.  You'll also need a pair of scissors to trim the straws.

Now that you have your supplies, let's get started! What's unique about these finger lights over the dollar store kind is this little rim around the light. This makes all the difference in the world for how well the lights stay together!! First, gently twist the rim off the light bulb and set to the side.

Next, cut a tiny slice at the bottom of a straw on one side only. It's hard to see the cut I made, but if you look closely, you can see how small it is.

Now, gently put the straw around the light bulb. You may see, like I did, that there's a bit of a pull on the cut you make since the straw may be smaller in diameter than the light. That's ok. We'll get it locked into place, no problem. 

I don't have a picture to show this, but you'll want to cut off the bendy part of the straw before you do the next part. It just makes it easier. You'll have quite a bit of length left of the straw, but we'll get to that. After you've cut off the bendy part of the straw, put the rim over the straw and back down to the base. 

To get the rim from the picture above, to being flush with the base, you need to use a bit of gentle force. If you aren't gentle, you will crack the rim and then the whole project is a loss...unless you're a ninja with Gorilla Glue. ;) I pushed down a little bit at a time, all the way around the rim, until it was finally all the way down. {note: if it hurts your fingers, you can gently use the side of your closed scissors blade}. 

When you're done, it looks like this and you're ready for your sharpie! This is where I spent a little bit of time going over the light with the Silver Metallic. I tried to do only one pass over each part to give it a little more even finish. 

Finally, I used my black sharpie to add the finishing details pictured, all the way around the finger light. Then, I trimmed the straw down to about 3 or 4 inches in length. After my first one was finished, I trimmed the straws to match the exact length. I think making them all the same finished size is more important than nit-picking the length of the straw itself. 

And there you have it! A fun and simple DIY that will go over HUGE with any little Star Wars fan. "May the force be with you"!

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~Amy