DIY Book Lamp

Simple electronics meet paper crafting

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A DIY Project for Kids and Adults

Video Tutorial

This magical DIY Book Lamp teaches kids about creativity and electronics. It combines paper crafting and paper circuits using conductive tape. The materials used are simple, but the result is truly fascinating. The book even turns itself on and off automatically! Making the book lamp requires precise folding and some patience. I recommend this project for anyone aged 11 and up. It's also ideal for parent-child workshops!

Watch the videos below to learn more.

Note: This YouTube video was uploaded in privacy-enhanced mode. Nevertheless, as soon as you hit “play”, data will be sent to YouTube/Google.

In Short:

Recommended age: 11 years and older

Skill level electronics: medium

Skill level paper crafting: medium to difficult

Time needed: 3-4 hours

Templates and Shopping List

Visit my Teachers Pay Teachers store to download my workshop kit.

a look inside the DIY book lamp showing the paper cicuit and 4 LEDs

Included in every download

All the templates you need for this project.
My electronics shopping guide for this project
Detailed instructions on my Stress-Free Workshop page
Template and instructions for optional Easy Switch module
And much more!

Click here to download:

Buy Templates

Easy Switch Module

Variation 1

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Note: This YouTube video was uploaded in privacy-enhanced mode. Nevertheless, as soon as you hit “play”, data will be sent to YouTube/Google.

A much simpler on/off switch

I have added this template to my downloads and instructions on my Stress-Free Workshop page.

The Easy Switch module is perfect for larger workshops as it is much easier to make than the Slide Switch. It can easily replace the Slide Switch module. So you can choose which one you want to make. Or you can start with the Easy Switch and when everything is working well you can replace the Easy Switch with the Slide Switch or vice versa.

Paper Scoring Machine

Prototype

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Note: This YouTube video was uploaded in privacy-enhanced mode. Nevertheless, as soon as you hit “play”, data will be sent to YouTube/Google.

A 3D printed scoring press

This device scores all the fold lines of the bellows template. It works really well! But for my workshops I usually use the process shown in the tutorial video, using a butter knife and a ruler. Doing it by hand is a bit more precise.

If you want to try my scoring press, you can download my 3D files here. At the moment it can only be used for A4 paper, but you can adapt it for letter size. If you do, please send me the file.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

If you want to use my work commercially, write me an e-mail.

If you use or share my work, please attribute VoltPaperScissors.com as the creator of this work and provide a clickable link where possible.

Find more information about me, my project, and the license I use here.