Hi there! Kathy Ceceri here with a cool personalized birthday card I created for my mom’s 90th. I connected the usual Chibitronics LED sticker circuit to a BBC micro:bit mini-computer to play music, adjust the brightness on the LEDs, and scroll messages across the board’s LED “screen.” And — thanks to one of the micro:bit’s onboard sensors (can you guess which one?) — you can even blow the candles out!
The circuit for this project spans two layers. On the backing layer, the three LED stickers connect to the same negative strip of conductive tape, but each gets its own positive trace. On the front layer, the negative trace connects to the ground (GND) pin on the micro:bit, and each positive trace connects to its own pin (P0, P1, and P2). When the cake on the front layer pops up, it creates an opening where the traces on each layer can connect.
The printable template below contains the pop-up birthday cake, icing, and candles, and shows where to make the circuit with conductive tape and where to place the Chibitronics LED stickers and the micro:bit. It even includes a summary of the instructions. I left room on the card front for your own sentiment (“Make a Wish and Blow!” would be appropriate) and space at the bottom to sign it.
To see how it’s made, watch the video below or on the Chibitronics YouTube channel!
Supplies
- Chibitronics Conductive Fabric Tape
- Chibitronics Light Sampler MegaPack LED Stickers
- BBC Microbit V2 Go Bundle (includes programmable board, USB data cable, battery holder, and 2 AAA batteries
- (Optional) 2 x AA Battery Holder with On/Off Switch & JST PH Connector (batteries last longer)
- Bearly Art Cubies 1/8″ and 1/4” thick squares