- Blog
- Bios
- Boards
- Classifieds
- DIY
- Gallery
- Vendor Reviews
- Shop Weddingbee
Weddingbee boards
Wow - great instructions! I am wondering though - what is the magnet for? Do I need the little magnet if I'm going to suspend them inside a lantern using a thread or something like that?
I didn't use the magnet. The magnet is so you can throw it at a building and have it stick
these are so fun. it made me think of my days when i was in college (electrical engineering major), i went to radio shack all the time for lab materials! what a great idea!
very cool. you can also buy them (premade) from lunabazaar.com
Dress.jpg (87.4 KB, 693 downloads) 2 years old
Cool!
and I looked at lunabazaar, and didn't see any... I mean, there were led lights, but I didn't see throwies.
This is with just one LED? Just wondering, because I notice some of the websites that sell pre-assembled lighting use three. I have a headlamp with three and it seems to be that would be really bright.
This is with 2. One fell because my dog thought it was his ball and enjoyed throwing it. It was about 50 cents to light this. I have a few bigger lanterns and will probably use 3 or 4. I'll have about 50 to light and I couldn't swallow $4 ea for the premade ones.
The last picture was after being on for 12 hours. Still very bright.
Thank you soooo much for this great post. I have been trying to figure out how to cheaply light 100 chinese lanterns for my wedding in 2 months. I had given up, but thanks to this post, I just ordered LEDs and batteries from ebay. Yay!
The premade ones are cool but spendy. I can see springing for premade if I wanted a dozen lanterns for a garden party, but not for a whole reception hall! Thanks so much for the tip!
Thanks so much for sharing this. I too had totally given up on lighting up my lanterns. One question though, how did you attach the throwies to the lantern? Since these will be hanging from the ceilings of my reception hall, I don't want throwies falling down on my guests!
It looks great! I've been meaning to post my throwie lantern experiment, but haven't gotten around to it. One thing to keep in mind is that you'll probably need (at least in my experience) one battery per LED. Everytime you add an LED to a battery, they all get less bright, and my the time I had added three LED's to one battery, they were pretty much useless. I used fishing line to suspend my throwies, and it worked really well. Also, try to order LED's online if you can. RadioShack has them, but they are way more expensive than online or my small local parts place.
Good luck!
I ordered my leds and batteries from ebay. Try to get the diffused ones, they have a better glow instead of a spot. I used one battery per led. I just followed the instructions and it was great. I put paper in between each throwie to keep them from shorting out. Then I taped them into bundles of 3.
Definitely go to radio shack and make a few. I bought several different sized batteries to test as well. Once you make your test, it will make sense.
White_Chair_cover_with_black_sash.jpg (7.8 KB, 615 downloads) 2 years old Black_Chair_cover_with_attached_sash.jpg (9.4 KB, 309 downloads) 2 years old
so far where have you guys found is the best price to buy these LED bulbs in bulk? I will probably have about 20 lanterns...so with 3-4 LED's in each one I will need to buy about 60-80 bulbs. Do you guys have any suggestions of which site to buy them from. Same with the batteries, where is best? Another thing...what size is good, 10mm???
thanks girls!
I just found little LED lights at IKEA - $3.99 for 4, each has a battery & on/off switch. A little less work than throwies! http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/10155044
@MissRojoOso This is a wonderful idea!! SUpe cheap too! Can you post a how to with how you got them to hang inside the lantern?
We did these for our wedding and just taped them to the wire expander. We did on on each side, one facing up and one facing down.
JDW_2009_08_09_5381.JPG (3622 KB, 554 downloads) 1 year old JDW_2009_08_09_5389.JPG (2770.6 KB, 238 downloads) 1 year old 
I’ve been reading almost all the stuff posted about paper lanterns and how to illuminate them. . .
In a photojojo blog about How to Light With LEDs,http://www.diyphotography.net/studio-at-home-introduction-to-led-lightingthey mentioned LED keychains and gave a this link where you can get them by 2, 10 or 50 pack.The 22000mcd (Ref. SKU 1100) is as low as $0.447,http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1253and something they call Ultra-Value Bright (Ref. SKU 20241) is as low as $0.398,http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.20243but a customer says the SKU 1100 is brighter than the SKU 20241.
I love the idea of the keychains, because it will save me the hassle of making a ton of throwies. . .but has anyone tried this before? and if you did. . .can you share your experience?
thanks so much!
Thanks for the links ocam_caro. Were you able to try the key chains in the lanterns yet?? Let me know how it goes! :)
@backyardwed : Not really :( . We are still deciding our venue and just after that we will go into the decoration detals. . .And you are getting married before me, so if you go for it let me know! ;)
OH Wow! I would love to know if those keychains have worked too, that would save some hassel! I would do a trial but since I waited I have to make my throwies now!
I would also like to know what became of the keychain idea. My wedding is November 7th (Yes, this is totally last minute...gah!). I have read every LED/Throwie/Paper Lantern tutorial on the internet and still haven't found a definitive answer to where can I get a throwie that doesn't produce a bluish light. If someone has used the keychain idea, please please please share a photo or words of wisdom. I've got this project, plus tissue paper pomanders, plus a wishing tree (maybe), plus votive candle place cards...well you all know how it is. \(>_<)/
Thanks Miss RojoOso and Pengy for the how-to's!!! I heart this so much! Def going to have some of these at our reception!
Now one question. How long does it take to create the throwie?
You rock!! I actually think you can go to the Dollar Tree and get the Led tealights (1.00 for two) and use fishing wire to tie them to the top frame... They have an on-off switch, but ti is definitely the same principal!
I just bought my LED lights from http://buy-leds-online.com/ and received them, I'm waiting on the batteries that I should get on Tuesday and them I'm off to work.
Apparently on buyleds they have introduced 10MM diffused warm white lights that are supposed to give a warm glow vs. the blue tint, these just became available a month of two back, so none of the previous posters on this thread used these specific lights.
I will be sure to let ya'll know how the lights actually work, I'm keeping my fingers crossed!
hey belle: they supposedly stay lit around 100 hours or so... so more than long enough for any event... i am actually going to test light some to see how long they stay.
So I decided to just be done with it and buy the LED's from buy-leds-online.com. I called them first to double check which ones were good for lighting paper lanterns and they said that they carry 105XWWD Warm White LEDs specifically for that purpose. They cost 22 cents per LED, a bit more than the others, but whatever, I'm tired of researching and am happy to have a definitive answer to what will actually give off a true white glow. (I'll post a photo once I get the chance to test it out.)
I ordered my lanterns from www.paperlanternstore.com. 50 lanterns in various sizes ranging from 6" to 20." Colors: White and Natural Cost: $115.40 with the free shipping coupon "fship"
Now I need to order the batteries. I'm going to drive over to the Dollar Tree and look for the CR2032 3V Lithium Batteries there. I'll also check out Wal-Mart. Otherwise I'll be ordering from ebay. I'll let you know what I come up with.
What sort of fishing line did you use to hang them?
Has anyone ordered batteries from the website (cheapbatteries.com) given in the LED throwies instructions (on the Instrucbales website)?
I ordered them from that website, assuming it was legit because it was suggested by people who seemed to have ordered from there before (from the weddingbee website). The site looked a bit sketch and it was not very smart of me to order them from there.
If anyone has ordered from there and recieved a confirmation email and the batteries they ordered, could you please let me know to put my mind at ease.
(I ordered them this morning and I am used to recieving an email of order confirmation pretty much immediately)
Sounds like a few people have had good experiences with buy-leds-online.com too bad I did not. I ordered 170 warm white 10mm LEDs and 170 CR2032 Lithium Batteries. I placed the order in May and then got a call in the middle of June that they were on back order. Ok no big deal since my wedding is in early Sept. Second week in July I email them to get a status. Then again in two days. Then again in a day. Then again in a day (mind you their site say "email is the best way to contact us and all emails will be answered withing 24 hours---this is sooo not true). I ended up calling and talking to an employee. He stated that they would be mailed by Aug 6th.
Ok a little closer than I'd like but I could live with it. I get an email on Aug 6th stating that the items have been mailed by US mail. Great!...i thought. After about a week and a half of not seeing them I email (with no response) then call to get the tracking number. I talk to the same employee and he states..."hmmm something isn't right here, it looks like we didn't mail them after all".
Apparently since I ordered them so long ago (May) my CC needed to be reauthorized. He asks me "did Robert [the owner] call you to reauthorize?". No he didn't. He stated "I'll have him call you after he gets home from work today". I let him know that I need these for a wedding very shorty and time is of the essence. He assures me tonight it will all be straightened out. I confirm they have my correct phone number. I wait for the call until midnight EST. No call. No email. Nothing. I found another place online out of NYC that sells the same stuff.
Maybe my experience was unique but somehow I doubt it. Anyway just letting you know what happened to me and that there ARE other places that sell the diffused 10 mm Warm White lights.
I'm in the process of making throwies to light my paper lanterns and paper luminarias (white paper lunch bags from Target for $2 - hell yeah!).
I'm making 300 throwies at .24cents each.
I bought 100- 10mm/12000mcd LEDs and 200- 5mm/20000mcd LEDs on eBay for a total of $24.99. The sellers and their prices change periodically so you really have price shop. The same seller I bought LEDs from last month is selling the same lights for $4 less than what I paid last month.
I found a roll of strapping tape at Target for $4.50, I'm sure I could have gotten a buck or two cheaper at Wal-Mart or some other place.... but I was being lazy.
For the batteries... Ikea sells a pack of 8 CR2032 batteries for .99cents - http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/60207130
As for the paper lanterns, I bought all of mine on eBay from sellers who offered free shipping... Jadetime.com definitely had the best prices but their shipping was insane. On average, buying them through eBay I paid .92cents per 8" paper lantern. If I were to buy from Jadetime the cost of each lantern (when shipping was added) would have been $1.54.
You must log in to post.
| Visit our sister sites | eHarmony Online Dating |
eHarmony Advice Dating Advice |
Project Wedding Wedding Songs |
JustMommies Pregnancy Calendar |
Create the honeymoon of your dreams.
In Miss Penguin's post about paper lanterns ambinsb gave the great idea of making little battery operated LED lights called Throwies. I ran out to radio shack after work to do a little R&D. Sorry for the grainy pictures. I loaned my camera to my mom. Here is a 14" white lantern with 2 throwies. I'll probably use 3 or 4. I accidentally grabbed red LED lights instead of white. Now I know it works and will buy the supplies in bulk.
It will probably end up being $1ish per lantern! I'm a happy girl. I suspended the throwies inside with a rubber band ghetto style because I just wanted to try it. I made the throwies with an on off switch with scraps of paper. ambinsb I owe you an adult beverage!
Throwies
Throwies with on off switch