Valentine's Day Interactive Heart Frame

This time for valentine's day, I wanted to offer to my Sweetheart something different . Then, I saw a picture frame and thought - Why not a frame, with a heart that lights, but nothing automatic, a button to press, and only then, the heart lights up.

I didn't want anything too complicated, but something simple - so I thought of a paper circuit. I had bare conductive paint at home and I imagined a small line from the bottom, in the middle of the cardboard of the picture frame, going to a heart . The line was the stem of the flower. In the bottom, a paper button, when pressed, the led behind the heart would light up.

Dimensions are all dependent on the size of your picture frame. I choose a small one - 174mm x 124mm. 

After that, I search the internet for a picture of a heart that I could adjust the dimensions to my picture frame - and I could use.

It turns out, Wikipedia has an article about the Hear symbol and the picture for the Conventional Heart Symbol  is perfect .

Frame and Circuit

I've downloaded it (the heart picture) and resized it to my needs. Then I printed it and cut it it. 

Next, using the white paper (the normal thick one, not the cardboard) that came with the frame, I placed the heart in the middle ( 5cm - the frame size for the picture is 10cm wide ) and workout the placement from there.

Now I know where to place the LED  - in the middle of the heart.

Because this paper is so thin, i glued it to a piece of cardboard. Cut the cardboard to the size of the paper, leaving a small piece at the bottomto be the button that will light up the LED

I traced the middle of the paper, that's where the line of bare conductive paint will be and the LED on the top of that line (the heart will be on top of that later). The line at the bottom ends in a spot were the paper button will bend and touch the line. Does not has to be right in the top of the piece of the small rectangle, but in the middle will be a safer option.

Now, i draw where the LED will be and the path the paint will have until it reaches the LED - one side of it.

After that, in the other side of the LED I made a hole. Why a hole ? Because at this point I realized my bare conductive paint was dry and I had to go in another way - Using conductive copper foil tape.

Mine it is not conductive adhesive, so I had to place blobs of solder whenever two foils would overlap a bit - NEVER OVERLAP ENTIRELY because the adhesive is not conductive - leave always some bit out so the solder will cover both and thus keeping the conductivity - only the top of the foil is conductive.

Next, cut the foil in small pieces - but proportionally to the dimensions of your frame.

Start placing the tape on the paper - carefully take the protection of the adhesive on the back of the tape and place it on the paper, covering the lines you drew

Now, insert a piece of foil tape through the hole, to the other side

and leave just a bit to make contact with the LED

Do the same on the bottom, making sure that the foil tape on the button touches the foil line in the paper when bending the button

Back of the frame and circuit

In the back, let's do the same, placing lines of copper foil from the top (where the hole to the front is, where you place the foil tape earlier) to the negative side of the battery and this one to the positive side of the battery ( carefully checking the LED polarity).

This is the tape that comes from the hole in the button

Now with the battery in position

And a view from the other hole - the one on the top

Finish the circuit, connecting the top foil tape to the other side of the battery holder

Since my copper foil tape has a non-conductive adhesive, i need to place blobs of solder whenever two lines overlap.

This one is near the LED Sequin (not my best work)

It's working - pressing the paper button, the LED lights up

Hearth

To place the heart in position, let's create some paper supports, that will enable the heart not to touch the LED and give a 3D look

Just create two paper loops and glue them, each to the sides of the LED

Now, glue the heart on top of them - adjusting to be placed in the middle of the two supports

If you touch the button, the LED will light up behind the heart !

Finishing

Now, close everything in the frame, without the glass and not pressing the metal pads on the bottom, so the button will not be pressed and still have a gap, enabling you to press it .

The final product

In action