Christmas Advent Carousel hack - pt 4 (final post)

This is the way I decided to add lights to mine but really you don't have to even add lights if you don't want to. First I had to get all the layers done and I decided to put more support in the centers with cardboard. The first layer is the most time consuming to put together but after that it goes pretty quick. 

Then even though I don't have all my decorations on it yet, I hot glued all the layers together. Just make sure you weigh it down while the glue sets because foam core board loves to buckle with glue or paint.

TIP: It's a lot easier to add your lights behind the houses and around the top if you leave a little room between the supports and houses and don't hot glue the house tops to the layers. I actually had to poke holes and run my lights through the backs of the house containers on the bottom two levels and it was not fun!

I wanted to be able to access my lights from the outside and I wanted to hide the switches. I thought about cutting a box in the bottom of the first base level but I didn't want to have to pick the whole thing up to turn it on. So I got a pack of 6 fairy lights for cheap on Amazon and it only took 2 sets to light it up. The battery pack is about the same size as a little present so I'm going to disguise them and make present covers for them.

The advantages to using this kind of battery pack is that it is small because it takes three cell button batteries so it's easy to disguise, the string/wire is practically invisible and the lights can be added after the carousel is completely put together. A disadvantage is that they don't give off a lot of light and a lot of people don't like cell batteries because they don't last as long. But I don't mind them. Batteries are cheap and easy to replace.

I just ran the lights around the outside top and some of the bottom edges of the center supports. Now all I have to do is finish decorating it. It will look great lit up at night. But it was not about the lights for me. I just love the look of the whole thing! 

I also added a 12" turn table with hot glue. I got two of these cheap on Amazon for about 6 bucks. They are plastic but you don't need anything heavy duty for this project. 

And the batteries are covered with presents that lift off so I can change the batteries when needed. I also added some pinecone sprigs that I already had in my stash. I also made a little sleigh for the top but if I find a better one, I'll use it. 

So all I have to do now is go shopping for more trees and little figurines and then I will call it done! I need santas and snowmen, maybe some reindeer or buckets of snowballs. Little sleds would be cute... and somewhere I saw some rhinestone stickers that looked like light strings... I may have some tiny light string garland somewhere... I better make a list for my trip to Hobby Lobby!

And I have to add some buffalo snow to the layers when I get everything glued in. Can you tell where the batteries are hidden?  All I have to do to turn on the lights is squeeze the presents!