Miniature DIY Dollhouse Lights – An Expanded Tutorial

In the series of tutorials, I haven’t talked about miniature DIY dollhouse lights yet. So it was time to change that, right?

Today we are diving deeper into the world of miniature DIY dollhouse lights!

updated 09/08/23

Which Is The Better Choice: Wires Or Battery Operated DIY Dollhouse lights?

I have talked before about how to do your dollhouse electricity with wires, but not everyone likes it this way, or it might be too complicated or fragile.

On the other hand, however, you could just buy battery-operated miniature lights.

Let’s go over a few pros and cons for both ways:

• Wired lights are easier to have controle over as they are all connected to a switchable block.
• The color is not so ‘cold‘ in tone as the battery operated lights.
• There is a lot more choice in wired mini lights on the market.
• You don’t need to dive into the house every time that you want to switch on a light with wired lights.
• Wired lights are a litt less expensive then the battery operated ones.
• Battery powered lights are ideal for small places/roomboxes and if you have a finished house where you don’t want to drill holes in the wales to hide the wires.
• Battery powerd lights sometimes have a magnet. This way you can pull the light of the magnet, switch it on, and then just put it back, without having to use glue or worry about wires at all.
  
• There are discussions online on weather battery operated lights are less bright then the wired lights, and they contradict eachother.
  A lot of people say that the wired ones are brighter, but others claim they have found battery operated lights that are as bright as the wired ones, or just bright enough.
  

In general, in my opinion, I think that LED battery-operated lights are more than bright enough.

When in doubt of which one to choose, try buying one of each and see which one suits you the best?

If you don’t like a light that is supposed to be ‘warm’, but to ‘cold’ for you, you can always use glass paint and touch up the light bulb to get the shade you want. Go opposite on the color wheel from what you are getting to neutralize the color.

Different Variations For Battery Operated Miniature Lights.

There are a few variations in the way that battery-operated mini lights look or the type of battery that is used.

– Have you tried the miniature kits from Robotime, for example? These kits all work with the same kind of lights.

They are LED lights attached to a coin battery. They come in different sizes and brightness and colors.

– String lights like these can be attached to an A4 pack. I have several that I use for my fairy garden, but for mine, there is a little solar panel attached. Perfectly ecological and no energy or batteries needed ;-). They come in different lengths and shapes.

– You can however use battery hookups with regular 12V dollhouse lights as well. Just get an adapter that uses a coin battery or AAs or a 9V battery. They come in various configurations similar to these.

How To Wire LED Lights For Your Dollhouse

To explain this better than just by using words, I have found a terrific video for you on Youtube.

Basically, it comes down to :

• cutting of gently the cable jacket from the wire ( I do that around 10-12 mm’s)
• pull off cable jacket
• do this for all the wires
• get some colored wires and do the process again
• gently gather and twist the wires together (make sure to have no stray wires left)
• and do the same again for the white wires
• strip the red and black wire attached to the battery box gently
• make sure to connect the right wires together, according to the instructions
• wrap the wire end with cable tape
• continue with the other cables and repeat the whole process
• DONE and the lights should go ON

how to make battery-operated dollhouse lights yourself?

Now that we got the basics out of the way, it’s time to share the work of fantastic people making their own mini lights!

I will guide you through everything I found on Facebook groups, Youtube tutorials, and others! Although I can only show a few ideas on my website, I’m pretty sure there is more. You are always welcome to share your ideas 😉

Some of these pictures are not too clear, but that shouldn’t be a problem to see what these lights are made of..

• A mini lamp made from a Tide laundry soap bottle and a bead cap.
  

• This cute little one is made from a part of a bracelet, beads and a jewelry chain.
  

• Use water bottle tops and beads.
  

• For this one, a choker necklace was used (can you tell?).

• Here, a curtain ring and a beaded fringe was used.

• A floor table lamp. The artist used a wooden fan, cardstock, craft paint and a round balloon light. Keep them away from children and pets.

• Have you seen this blog, where the artist makes all of the lights herself? Another wonderful place to be! ( please have a look at her pictures on her blog, I haven’t asked for any copyrighted ones 🙂 ).
  

Video Tutorials on DIY dollhouse lights!

Usually, I just link to one or two videos, but for this topic on miniature lights, there are several DIY tutorials that I liked. I bet you will agree!

• First of all, have you seen my own Youtube tutorial on how to make a miniature lamp with papercraft? It is quite easy to do!
  

• This is just fabulous: how to make a miniature working lamppost DIY. If you have a Youtube account, just give it a ‘thumbs up’, will you? 🙂
  
  

• To make this miniature LED light pendant, you need a lot of supplies (in my opinion), that maybe you can’t find anywhere anymore, because of the ban on plastic cutlery. But if you still have those available, this might be another interesting project for you ;-).
  

• The making of a black miniature lamp that actually works, using polymer clay and a polystyrene plate, check it out!
  

• Do you prefer something more modern? How about this miniature, modern ànd working chandelier?
  

• Make a miniature DIY industrial pendant light using recycled materials and materials that you can buy in any (crafting) store:
  

• A miniature chandelier that lights up – another tutorial by Sugarcharmshop:
  

• Another great way to make a mini chandelier. It looks easy, but is it? Let me know 😉
  

• For the next video, you might think it is not for us to use, but I think it would be applicable for your miniature dioramas as well! How to make a miniature LED campfire DIY.
  

One More Thing: How To Hide Wires In Your Dollhouse?

• Use tape wire on the opposite side of the wall where you are going to drill a hole. Use a mini tool, like my Dremel or any other brand, to drill a hole in the wall where you want to place your light.
  
• Run the wire through the hole and secure it to the tape. You can now cover it with wallpaper.
  
• Glue the light on the hole using any kind of super glue.
  

In the video below, a hook is used to drill the hole into the wall, but I would still advise using a mini drill, I am using it so many times for other things as well and I couldn’t miss it anymore 🙂

There are a lot of previous tutorials on my website, including how to make miniature furniture, how to do your dollhouse electricity, how to make your own dollhouse DIY in 12 steps, etc.

So please just use the search button and who knows, you might find what you are looking for! 😉

My Final Conclusion

I hope that you got at least a few ideas out of this article on how to create miniature lights and I would like to thank everyone for sharing as well.

If you have any questions or have something to add or share with me then please leave a comment below or join me on my Facebook group or other social media channels below.

I wish you happy crafting!

Best regards,

Lizzy

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