Here Be Dragons!
For all my fellow dragon-loving readers, this light-up bookmark is for you! Did you know that cartographers inscribed “Hic Sunt Dracones (Here Be Dragons)” in a copper globe over 500 years ago? On the back of this bookmark is a map near the edge of the Northern Hemisphere, and on the front is an aerial view of a fire-breathing dragon.
Materials:
- Conductive Fabric Tape
- Pressure Sensitive Conductive Plastic
- Red, Orange, and Yellow Circuit Stickers
- Coin Cell Battery
- Black Cardstock
- Vellum Paper
- Tape
- Craft Blade
- Cutting Mat
- Toner Printer
- Toner-Reactive Foil
- Laminator
Directions:
Step 1: Print Design on Cardstock
[Thanks to the New York Public Library’s public domain imagery for the map near the edge of the Northern Hemisphere on the copper Hunt-Lenox globe https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/16891d60-66fc-0133-fbd6-00505686a51c ]
Print the PDF on black cardstock with a black toner printer. (Do not use inkjet!)
Step 2: Laminate Foil
Use non-permanent tape to attach metallic toner-reactive foil to the printed side of the cardstock.
Run the foil/cardstock sheet through a laminator twice.
Peel the foil from the cardstock.
Step 3: Cut Bookmark
Use a craft blade to cut around the edge of the bookmark as well as the inside of the flame.
Step 4: Assemble Circuit
Use conductive fabric tape, a coin cell battery, and the red, orange, and yellow circuit stickers to create the circuit on the inside of the bookmark, leaving a gap as seen in the image.
Tape a small strip of pressure sensitive conductive plastic to the other inside of the bookmark to allow the circuit to complete when pressed.
Step 5: Finishing Touches
Tape strips of vellum behind the flame cut out and tape shut the bookmark.
