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For New Years Eve my friends and I decided to head up to San Francisco for a party called Sea of Dreams. It was the type of event where everyone dresses up, so a few weeks before the new year we all went to work on our costumes. I decided to go classy and wear a full tuxedo, so I just needed to come up with a way to dress it up a bit.
What I ended up doing was buying an old tux from a thrift store and outlining the jacket with blue EL Wire. At the same store I was able to find a pretty snazzy blue ruffled shirt to wear with it. I had already ordered an LED walking cane online, so the final touch was my
hat.
The disco ball hat was an idea I’d been toying around with for a while. It was a pretty simple idea. I basically just attached a tiny motorized disco ball to the top of a hat. To make things a little more interesting added an EL Badge to the front with musical notes, and I covered the hat with silver glitter. Check out the video below.
Note that the lasers aren’t part of the hat; I just added them to show some of the cool things you could do with it. I had thought about permanently adding lasers or LEDs but in the end, I liked the simplicity. If you are interested in detailed instructions on how to make one, check out this insctructable I wrote for it.
Sea of Dream turned out to be a lot of fun. Really great music and good vibes all around. I’ll probably go back next year, and would definitely recommend checking it out to anyone who has the opportunity.
If anyone’s got a question about the outfit or Sea of Dreams, be sure to leave a comment, or send me an email, doc@docstoyland.com.
Firework glasses are a fun way to change the way you see everything around you. They use defractive lenses to to split light before it reaches your eyes. This creates the effect of turning a single light source into what appears to be light coming from many directions. This will be easier for me to explain in the video below.
So you now you can see the effect they create, pretty cool huh? Whenever I go to a show I usually toss a couple hundred of them in my backpack to give out. Particularly shows with a lot of lasers or lights, it really adds to the experience. Check out this video I took of Ghostland Observatory at Sea of Dreams, I put the glasses in front of the camera so you can see what it would be like to wear them at the show.
So the last question is where to get them. You can find them various places online ranging from fifty cents to a couple of bucks. If you are just buying a couple, it probably won’t matter where you get them. However if you are like me, and want extras for your friends or just to give away, then saving even 10 cents a pair will really start to add up (I’ve already gone through thousands of them). By far the best prices I’ve found are at rainbow symphony. You can find firework glasses there starting at 40 cents if you buy 50+. Or if you really plan to buy a lot, you can buy overstocked glasses starting at 15 cents.. I typically buy 1000 overstocks at a time for 10 cents a pair, which allows me to go to shows and brighten people’s night at 10 cents a pop. Is it weird when I hand people glasses that have an advertisement for some random fair in Oregon that happened a year ago? Maybe a little, but I think most people rarely notice and are more concerned with the fact that when they put these things on their face starts melting. Either way, I love seeing peoples reactions when they try them on for the first time.
So make sure to grab a pair for your next show, and maybe a few extras for all the new friends you are bound to make.
As always feel free to email me doc@docstoyland.com with any questions, or even better, ask them in the comment field below.
Whenever I’m at a show or festival I usually try to wear one of my EL Shirts at least one night. They’ve been around for a few years now, yet most people have still never seen one and are always fascinated when they see my shirt light up.
EL T-Shirts rely on the same electroluminescent technology that allows EL-Wire to glow. They were popularized a few years ago by the “T-Qualizer” pictured below.
However now these shirts are available with a wide variety of different symbols and patterns. Just like EL-Wire, they require a battery pack/driver to power (typically powered by 4 AAA batteries). Depending on the driver the lights on the shirt may blink or react to sound. The sound sensitive shirts are my favorite as its fun to see them light up to music.
Washing these shirts needs to be done by hand, and can be a bit of a hassle, I’ve broken a shirt before by being careless with the washing. Some shirts come with a Velcro detachable panel on the front, so you can detach the EL portion of the shirt and wash the fabric in a machine. While this makes the washing process easier, I really prefer the sewn in look as the velcro panels stick out some and just don’t look as good.
I’ve listed some sites below where you can find EL Shirts, but I encourage you to shop around. There are dozens of online stores that sell them, so it’s worth spending a little time looking around and finding the one that’s right for you. Typically they run around $30-$35 so don’t pay too much more than that.
Have fun wearing one at your next event. I can guarantee you’ll be getting a lot of attention. And as always if you have any questions, please free to email me doc@docstoyland.com or post a comment below.
Online Stores that Sell EL Shirts
- http://www.dreamrave.com/elshirts-c-41.html
- http://www.bewild.com/ilmoansoret.html
- http://www.raveworx.com/Flashing-T-Shirts-c-312.html
When I’m at a show or festival, carrying a backpack is a must. How else am I going to haul around my lasers, bubbles, camera, firework glasses, frisbee, glow sticks, gum, head lamp, batteries… you get the idea…
In my opinion, anything worth wearing that often is worth lighting up. So I decided that lighting up my backpack was going to be my first EL Wire project.
To learn how best to sew the wire into my backpack I followed an instructable on sewing EL Wire into garments. The most important thing I learned from the instructable was the importance of having a plan, and mapping out where the EL Wire would go before sewing it in. I actually attached all of the wire to the backpack with pins before I began sewing.
All and all, I was pretty pleased with the way it turned out. The back pack always receives a lot of compliments whenever I wear it and it also makes it easy for my friends to find me in a crowd. If I were to do it over again (which I probably will), I would have added more wire to the center of the backpack, as apposed to just along the edges. I also would have used two different colored wires side by aside, to make the effect more pronounced.
Please post any questions or comments you may have. Or email me doc@docstoyland.com. I’d love to hear about similar projects people have worked on.
Most of you are probably old enough to remember when the red lasers first hit the market. Originally intended for use as a presentation tool, the laser soon became a prankster’s favorite toy. Painting red dots on unsuspecting bystanders, annoying theater-goers by adding your own red dotted story line, confusing the hell out of the cat… the possibilities were endless. But the joke got old pretty quick, the novelty wore off, and soon enough the red laser went the way of the dodo bird.
So here we are 15 years later, and to my delight, lasers are back. No longer used as a prankster’s tool they have returned for a much more noble cause, Eye Candy. Anyone who has ever been to a Ghostland Observatory show can testify to the amazing visual stimulation and immense entertainment that lasers are capable of providing. New, more powerful lasers can do much more than just produce a tiny dot. Modern lasers produce incredible streams of light sure to captivate most anyone who sees them.
These new lasers aren’t just for performers looking to put on an elaborate light show. The technology has become cheap enough for your average toy happy glow-junky to afford. The most common ones sold these days are green lasers ranging from 5 to 30 mW, though lasers capable of emitting well over 100mW can be found for purchase online (Note: I do not recommend the personal use of lasers over 30mW, as they can be dangerous if used improperly).
My favorite laser to play with is the 30mW green star pointer.
More than a standard laser pointer, this laser has 2 diffractive lenses sitting atop the pointer which split the beam into hundreds of tiny smaller beams. This creates of the effect of projecting hundreds of tiny dots (or stars), on any surface the laser is pointed at. The user can also rotate the top lens to change the alignment of all the dots, much like a kaleidoscope. It’s not easy to explain this effect with words, so check out this video, it’ll give you a much better idea of what I’m talking about.
As you can see from the video, you can also turn the star pointer into a standard laser pointer by simply removing the diffractive top. You now have a powerful 30mW laser whose beam is visible cutting through the night sky for up to 8 miles.
Another one of my favorite lasers is the handheld motorized laser pointer.
This laser has a single detractive lens which splits the beam, but also has an internal motor that moves the position of the laser using mirrors. This has the effect of creating an array of different shapes as the motor moves the laser through a set of pre-programmed patterns. Again, check out the video below to better see the effect produced by this laser.
Not to be a buzz kill, but I do want to finish by mentioning you should always use your lasers responsibly. Many of these lasers are quite powerful and can cause damage if exposed to the eye for a prolonged period of time. Also, please don’t shine a laser where it probably isn’t wanted, whether that is on a person, a stage, or a piece of art. Irresponsible use of lasers (such as shining them on stage at shows) has already caused them to get a bad rap in certain circles. Lets use them to add to everyone’s experience, not take away.
So there you have it, lasers are back, get involved. If you are interested in purchasing one, check out the links below for the best prices I’ve been able to find anywhere online. And stay tuned for some future DIY posts where I show some cool things you can create with your lasers.
If I’m cooking up a new project these days, there is a pretty good chance that EL Wire is going to be involved. It’s extremely versatile, easy to work with, and relatively inexpensive, making it the perfect choice for lighting up just about anything.
Electroluminescent wire, or EL Wire, is a thin copper wire coated in a phosphor which glows when an AC Current is applied to it. The light produced can be compared to that of a neon sign. The wire itself is very flexible and produces little heat making it a very versatile. It can be used in a wide variety of applications such as toys, clothing, vehicles, signs and structure decoration.
In order to use EL Wire, 3 main components are needed. The Wire, an inverter (or driver), and a power source. Typically your power source is going to be a battery, which provides the benefit of not restricting your EL Wire to being plugged into a socket. The inverter is then used to convert from direct current (DC) to alternating current (AC). Different sized inverters can be used depending on how much EL Wire you wish to light up and how bright you want the wire to glow. To light up EL Wire, you just need to solder the wire to the inverter and provide power. For those who aren’t as handy with a soldering iron you can buy pre-soldered wire, though I would highly recommend learning to solder it yourself as its pretty simple, less expensive, and allows you much more flexibility with your projects. For a good tutorial on soldering EL Wire check out this article from NeonString.com.
I typically secure EL Wire to my projects in one of two ways , by hot gluing it or sewing it. Hot glue is a great option for securing EL Wire to most hard surfaces, and because EL Wire doesn’t produce much heat, you don’t need to worry about the glue melting. The process of hot gluing is easy, and pretty self explanatory, unfortunately it doesn’t really work as well with fabrics. For fabrics you are going to want to sew the EL Wire, which can be a little bit more of a hassle, but still isnt’ too difficult. For a quick lesson how sewing EL Wire into fabrics check out this tutorial from instructables.
Now that you know all about EL Wire, you are probably asking yourself, what should I light up? To give you some ideas, here are a few things I’ve used it for recently
- My backpack
- My shoes
- My bike
- Various different hats
- Toys I’ve created
- To create a custom neon sign
I will warn you, if you are a glow-junky like me, this stuff can be addicting. I originally bought a little just to light up my backpack, and have since been lighting up just about anything I can get my hands on. The only thing stopping me is running out of wire and inverters. My suggestion to you is to order a bunch, and the ideas will start flowing once you start using it.
The last thing you’ll want to know is where to get the EL Wire and inverters. I’ve always ordered mine from the same place, WorldaGlow.com. My rational for doing so is that they appear to have the best prices I can find anywhere, and I’ve been happy with the quality of their products. That being said, a couple of the times I’ve used them (including my last time), the shipping has been really slow. I’m thinking about using another vendor next time to compare the quality of the products and service. I’ll update this post when I do, in the meantime, if anyone has had a positive experience with a different vendor please comment below. (If you are going to go ahead and use WorldAGlow.com, use the coupon code “burner” at checkout for a 10% discount).
So that should be all the info you need to get out there and start lighting it up. Check out the links below for tutorials and vendors. For those who have had experience with EL Wire, please share it. And for those getting ready for their first project, good luck, let us know how it goes. If you have any questions, feel free to post them or email me doc@docstoyland.com.
EL Wire Tutorials
Vendors
- WolrdAGlow.com (use coupn code “burner”)
- NeonString.com
- CoolLight.com
Out of all of my toys, my Mind Machine might very well be my favorite. I’ve had it for years and employ it for a variety of different purposes. While primarily I use it for meditation and relaxation, its also a huge hit back at the festival campgrounds. The flurry of colors running over your eyes while the binaural beats entrain your brain will make you forget about your surroundings and take you off into your own little world.
So what exactly is a mind machine? The mind machine consists of two main parts. Headphones which produce binaural beats, and lights frames which display lights patterns over the wearers closed eyelids. Together the binaural beats combined with the synchronized light patterns work to create a process called brainwave entrainment where brainwaves move toward a particular frequency. What all this means is that the mind machine can be used to induce a variety of states of consciousness. It can make you relaxed, awake, sleepy, focused or even take you on a journey up and down through different states.
The particular model of Mind Machine I own is called a Proteus. Its comes preprogrammed with 50 different sessions, each designed to put you in a different state of consciousness. You can also hook up a CD player to the unit and play Audio Strobe CDs which are encoded to control the light patterns on the lightframes in addition to providing sound. And for those who want more, you can download additional sessions or even create your own.
Some of the times I’ve used my Proteus:
- To relax when coming home from work.
- At night to help me fall asleep.
- To help me get energized in the morning or before I go out.
- In conjunction with a hypnosis track to make the hypnosis more effective.
- To entertain myself with the auditory and visual stimulation.
- At festival campgrounds to provide entertainment for myself and for friends.
If you are interested in learning more about Mind Machines or potentially buying one, check out Mind Modulations. They’ve got a few different models and some great info. That’s where I got my Proteus.
For more information on the science behind it all. Check out some of the following links
