We were on a volleyball trip to Louisville, KY for the Semifinals and happened to hear about a lighting dispay at The Galt House. It was a bunch of luminaries that was really spectacular. If you ever get a chance to see it, definitely worth the time. Anyway, this inspired me to try to build something similar.

You can see my model in the background. I started by bending heavy guage wire into the correct shapes and proportions. Then I wrapped the connecting parts with lead tape and soldered them together. When that was complete, I attached LED string lights to the wire so the lights were inside and not touching the outside.

I used shiny cloth and attached it to the wiring with construction glue, holding it in place with clothespins until it was dry.

The finished unlighted image is above at the top of the page and the lighted version of my luminary is shown here. Penny was designed to be an indoor critter but after several years, we decided to move her outside, knowing she would not last long. The weather took its toll on her and she finally had to be euthanized.