Light Up Nose for Rudolph

Materials: STR�LA, Light Blub, Faux Taxidermy Deer Head

Description: What's a mounted Rudolph head without a light up nose? Just a lame old deer head, that's what! So if you have one of those cardboard taxidermy deer heads (or you can download a template to make your own here) and want to make it a bit more festive, I've got the perfect hack for you.

Here's what you'll need: a strand of battery operated red LED lights (STR�LA $3), a hollowed out light bulb that is sized appropriately for your deer head, some Krylon Looking Glass spray paint, electrical tape, and wire strippers.

Since I didn't want to be able to see the LED lights on the STR�LA strand, I sprayed the Looking Glass spray paint inside of the bulb and distressed it with a little water to get a faux mercury glass look.

Next you will need to remove any excess LED's from the STR�LA strand. Figure out how many led lights will fit through the opening of your light bulb. In my case 5 LED's could fit. I cut out the extra LED's from the middle, leaving as much excess wire as possible connected to my 5 LED's and the battery pack. Strip the last quarter inch of these wires and reconnect the battery pack wires to the led's. You will need to turn the battery pack on to make sure they are working, if not switch the wires.

Once the lights are working use some electrical tape to secure the wires separately. I also used the same electrical tape to bundle all the LED's together.

Then it's as easy as cutting a hole through a few layers of your Deer Head, fishing the wires through, and hiding the battery pack. In fact, if you use the template from Instructables (blown up 400%) the pack will tuck nicely in one of the cavities.

Now, invite some people over to your holiday party so they can admire your handy work.

If you'll like more details to create your own Mounted Rudolph Head come on over to my blog, The Ambitious Procrastinator.

~ Nikki Kelly, Denver, CO