How to Make a Projector for Wall Murals

KEN: There are plenty of times when I'm doing a project where I want to get an image up on a wall to do a mural. I'm gonna show you how to make one just out of things I guarantee you have lying around the house. All you're gonna need is a cardboard moving box, a straight edge, a cutting blade, roll of tape, a marker, a plastic baggie, scissors and a pencil.
So we start off with the brown paper box, and we're just gonna draw a square on one end of it. About eight inches or so. This is going to be where the image will project from. Once you've measured it on the box, just cut it out with your sharp edge. Get that cut out, and then we just build a box. And when you do it, you want to make sure that you tape all of your edges. You want to trap all the light we're gonna have and we wanna force it all out of one edge.
So now we got our projection box. Now on the bottom of the box I'm just gonna cut a channel, and this will let us put the light source in.
Now that I've got the channel cut in the bottom, we're ready to project the image. That's where your freezer bag comes in. You want to cut them so you only have one panel of plastic. And then you put your image on here. You can hand draw it, or if you have a photo of something, you can put the photo underneath and trace it. Use a marker, depending upon how detailed, it can be a thin marker. So let's say we're doing a little boy's bedroom and want to do a rocket ship.
Now, we just take a lamp -- single light bulb -- and put the light source through the bottom. And you're just gonna tape your image straight to the front of the box. Now I'll turn out the lights, and then turn on the light, and then you just angle it exactly where you want your image. So there you go.
So that's how we made our easy home projector.

[@707tracy]

If you're planning on keeping the box for other projects, maybe use a piece of glass from a frame instead of a freezer bag and use a dry erase marker.

[@TWWilliams]

I tried this and at first I couldn't get it to work, but then a friend suggested using my iPhone flashlight and it worked perfectly! If you're having trouble with the image being blurry or not existent, you need a stronger light and a dark room. You can't use one of those twisted energy saver bulbs. It has to be intense light. Also be sure your box is taped up well. Thanks for the share. I had all the stuff at my house and it cost me $0 to make and it worked! Rock on!

[@bozomahoney]

Awesome! Thanks for the tips Tanya :)

[@Staciek76]

This is going to save me money!

[@staceymo5751]

Thanks for the tip!! I was very disappointed that it wasn't working (at 1st I used a table lamp)... I taped my iPhone inside the box with the flashlight turned on & it worked perfectly!

[@VlogEva]

I've tried everything you said and nothing is working, I have done everything in the video too and for some reason I still can't get any shapes up onto the wall!

[@staceymo5751]

HighlightsOf MyExistence You need a VERY bright light... I used a lamp & it didn't work. I taped my iPhone inside the box with the flashlight feature on, lined up directly with the hole that was cut in the box & it worked. ...Other suggestions, maybe check the size of box you're using... don't use bigger than needed, also make sure the box is taped very well, preventing light from shining out through any spaces. The only place light should be able to escape the box is through the small hole you cut in the box. I used an Avon box & lid. I cut a square out, probably 1 1/2 inches X 3 inches at the most. I propped up the box about 8 feet away from where I wanted to project the image & it enlarged the image from 2X3 inches to about 3X5 feet. Oh, MAKE SURE the area that you're working in is as dark as possible. I blocked off the area I was working in with blankets because it was during the day....maybe try again at night with no other lights? Also try drawing the image on the ziploc bag VERY dark, I used a thick Sharpie marker. Hope some of this helps! It did work for me :)

[@monicamccarthy93]

OH, I LOVE you right now! I am in the middle of a project and my overhead projector is not working and I am in panic mode. This will save the day! It may not be as crisp as the overhead projector, but will get the job done!

[@cutenurce01]

Failed at first. After reading comments I tried my cell phone flashlight and it worked perfect!

[@gsandau]

Thanks for the tip!

[@burgermister7580]

Me too

[@myopiniondoesntmatter505]

Love this. This made me chuckle with amazement. Something so simple but yet SO useful. Thanks man GREAT video!! I have been stuck pondering for 2 days how I'm getting a bunch of 5×5 inch minnie mouse vinyl graphics image on my daughters wall perfectly without the good ol school projector that I don't have. 70 pieces 85 inches wide 53 inches tall in a minnie shaped head. Sir you are a life saver at this point, again I thank you.......

[@SlyRamPlays]

Just in case anyone gets a bright idea [pun intended] Don't use a heat emitting bulb...or you might set your house on fire.

[@Pat206]

Wow! Brilliant AND so simple. Thank you

[@shellyquest007]

Thanks! I really need a projector and can't buy one today!! You saved me...and the funny thing is that January 10 is my birthday. It's a cool present :)

[@percyperanamus7432]

This is just what I needed to stencil my own family tree! Thanks so much!

[@greerlovesgovert]

Yaaayyy! Thank you for this. I was racking my brain trying to figure out a way to do this. KZbin to the rescue!

[@notautuber190]

I was just getting ready to spend wasted money on a projector. This is saving me. Thank you. I do agree with comments to include the lamp and bulb as part of the supply list. It’s not a perfect idea and I can see in my mind so easy tweets but If your an artist and broke like me with carpal tunnel this helps

[@winnieraj5896]

Thank you, thank you, thank you for making this tutorial. I loved your video. It was easy to understand. It's very easy to do. I made one and it worked perfectly. I used a powerful LED flashlight. Now I can make as many images as I want. Please keep your videos coming!!! ☺☺☺🙌🙌🙌

[@crimsnluv]

This is perfect and simple! Thank you so much for your tutorial! :)

[@perfectwafflemedia]

Thank you. Sent your tutorial to my college-student daughter.

[@mishwan222]

this is sooo smart, im loving it!! thanks for sharing your idea!!!

[@juliopimienta2748]

Damnit! All i have is the plastic baggie

[@slayzseby3172]

Julio Pimienta You sure? You don't have scissors or a pencil OR tape?

[@braidsbykels]

🤦🏽‍♀️😂😂

[@samanthaj9286]

Trade it for a brown box? I don't have a baggie lol

[@ambercobb4994]

It's 5 years later. I hope you're doing better at life.

[@ambercobb4994]

@Alexis Pintar what....no way....shits peachy over here. 😂😂😂

[@mari-atonjalkanen9920]

MY HERO! THANK YOU AND MUCH LOVE FROM STOCHOLM!

[@cutiecats23]

Oh this is incredible ❤❤❤❤ I have been looking for this video

[@seacrow6916]

Excellent idea! Thank you for video!

[@webtech4161]

Ha! The lights are clap on! LOL! Great video!

[@palmettophoenixsociety]

Thank you for this idea. I especially loved the clapper at the end for the lights! It made me laugh.

[@kbm506]

Now that is GENIUS!!!

[@idastroud1412]

This works wonderfully!! It saved me a lot of time and money. Only thing is I had trouble first, it didn't work because I was using a very low watt bulb. It would have been great if you could have told us how important that was, but all is good cause someone in comments mentioned it and I used the flashlight on my cell phone and it worked like a charm! So, Thank you so much for reminding me about this!

[@kateblasingame5530]

get out! Fantastic tutorial........need that right now for project . thank you!!

[@RoeRoe123]

Me too!

[@arthurr.borquez7275]

Perfect simple awesome straight to the point easy👍😃

[@gypsygirl731]

pretty cool for big stuff simple stuff thanks for sharing

[@mkihlstedt9395]

love it, thanks for your ingenuity!

[@mollykate1252]

This is brilliant, thank you!!

[@triciaandthewolf]

Thanks so much for this video. It's brilliant.

[@airheather]

SWEEEEET! You just saved me like 40 bucks! THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

[@carmilladennis3692]

Awesome, saved the day! I used this to trace onto plywood for my halloween yard cut outs!

[@nixbronowski5822]

Bloody Fantastic! u just saved me a fortune.. Thankyou!

[@sarahlee988]

That's so awesome!!

[@tamekagillyard55]

This is the best one I’ve seen so far!

[@donniechappelle5530]

thanks man ! i'm sure i will make a few adjustments to help with exactly what I am doing, but this was a big help!

[@politicalpartyagnostic268]

Very Clever!! Thank you 😃

[@taymarie24]

Simply amazing genius thank you!

[@TheAncientOneYT]

Love the pause on the plastic baggy, giving the pot heads enough time to catch on that they have said supply.

[@klutzspider]

paint or line the box with something that is reflective or white to get a brighter light from box, the dull cardboard will absorb most of the light from your lamp otherwise

[@sunnstone]

***** White reflects while other colors may dull the output.

[@anjuliambani5835]

What was the point of you responding? You just repeated what Nicolas said. WHITE REFLECTS... whilst other DARKER/DULL colors ABSORB See what I just did? Yeah, I'm acting like a douche like you, +sunnstone :(

[@percyperanamus7432]

I dont think they were trying to be rude, just agreeing

[@greenspringvalley]

I think you need a single small light source so light can travel iin a straight line through tbe image. Dispersed light hits the image at too many angles and makes it blurry. Even a large lightbulb doesnt work because light from various parts of the bulb hits the image at too many angles.A cheap flashlight LED is bright enough.

[@hellothere4724]

You just save me a lot of money! Thank you

[@quix66hiya22]

Just saved me a lot of money! Thanks.

[@khadidi2955]

Youre amazing. I'm gonna try this

[@craftswithkatie9310]

You are a lifesaver thank you 😊

[@pattytolman265]

I read more comments about using the phone light! It worked, thank you!

[@annettejones1993]

Amazing!!! I loaned my Art-O-Graph to someone and never got it back. I paid less than $50 for it decades ago and now I see they can go for several hundred dollars! I came across your video while looking for a used one online. I'ma go make mine RiGHT NOW!!! 😁

[@craftingwithme3494]

Pretty cool idea

[@LindseyParis]

This is GREAT! I have plenty of boxes and I needed something like this for a mural project!

[@piyushshukla8099]

nice pic

[@uttamsadhukha3170]

Lindsey Paris it's nice

[@lonniedenney7979]

Pretty cool! Throw in a paper clip and I would call you mcGyver! Thanks for sharing!

[@micahlastname6588]

Too cool!! Genius!! ;)

[@sugarpuffs5]

No need buy an OHP, this one is perfect! Thanks.

[@sofiakafairyS]

great idea!

[@kennedyb1509]

Great idea

[@alisiseru3057]

Omg, this works thank u so much

[@FullThrottle1701]

Wow! Thank you, I read some of the comments and tried the cell phone flashlight in a very dark room, worked perfect.

[@mikek4610]

Thats pretty slick

[@jamesstackhouse8882]

Good stuff Bruh

[@lorenaestrada3344]

Genial idea super bien

[@xristinapapa4267]

awesome simple fantastic

[@kellycodekas6790]

Thank you for your genius insight..

[@consciouscoma85]

you could even tape a color transparency to the box. great job. 👍

[@lakeinsky4150]

wow ! that is so cool thank you !

[@harlemw651]

You're cool! 👍🏽

[@jenniperkins4260]

Thanks for doing this to make sense !! So many I watched didn’t make sense haha 😂

[@GalaXy808]

Work works nice thank you

[@bgtherobit]

thanks, im taking some mural commissions around town but recently lost access to an overhead projector. Boxes are easy to come by though, so this'll work good

[@SilverSelene]

Fanf%$#@!tastic! So simple. THANK YOU!

[@lenasteinberg3220]

Worked for my purposes - thank you :)

[@carlosmedina9488]

gr8 idea thank you

[@wilde1581]

This is great and great for kids to experiment with ,well small kids with a bit of a help safety wise.I HATE the way Amazon deliver huge really strong boxes that cost quite a bit online to buy from furniture removals companies and I have about 15 of the sods filling my cupboard..Well I've got a roll of acetate under there..so I know what I'm making this weekend:) THANKS you've saves me a £100 as I was about to buy one.I use a window about 2ft square complete in its UVPC frame that had been thrown in a skip/dumpster? lol and suspend it between 2 dining chairs with my angle poise lamp on the floor and it's served as my lightbox for my textlies for about 20yrs:) Low tech is best ,thanks for sharing :) Sophie

[@usmanullahabbasi7602]

Nice bro

[@brinnda70]

Genius!

[@vidya2k2]

I was looking for mini projector to trace picture on large canvas and suddenly your video pops up in middle . I tried this at home, initially it was hard to to fix the blurry image then somehow fixed it and made it clear. Finally it worked well. 👍 Thank you

[@TheOlRazzleDazzler]

1:45 LOL Savage with the clapper! Excellent DIY

[@anzaeria]

Groovy!

[@daniellynch2047]

this is great

[@goatmealcookies7421]

Awrsome!

[@CE-wb9ek]

wow!!!..Thank you!!!

[@MISSINGROGERHOWARTH]

That's cool.

[@pattytolman265]

So I watched this 2 minute video. I made the box and all but the image only shows up tiny if I move it a few inches from the wall. Otherwise if I put it in the 8 inch opening, I don’t see anything but light. What am I doing wrong?

[@ragegameing6473]

thanks came in handy BRO

[@alvinjones670]

SWEET MUCH RESPECT THANKS FOR THE UPLOAD!!!

[@nyct0phile]

THANK YOU SO MUCH

[@Tzippi]

Great thank you!

[@PedroAkaki]

Great!

[@zzinnia]

THANK YOU!!

[@MWEinc92614]

Oops hit the wrong Thumbs ...Works great, I just used my cell phone light....thanks!

[@spitfeueranna]

Does the light have to be point source? Or can I use a 500watt halogen shop light

[@layesegs8688]

Will this work on a dark chalkboard? I am not talented so I need to project an image and chalk-board away to make a cool bistro mural. thank you.

[@dennisondenatalie1579]

I made one with a smaller box, and I put the light bulb in the back. I also made a bigger square on the front so the image would come out bigger.

[@MuralFormToronto]

Simple but a great idea. If I'm in a jam and my bulb burns out on my digital projector I now know how to save the day, Thanks.

[@vashappeninify]

i think this will work for my project cause i have to do a light source with a card board box with my group and i think i can do this one

[@yolandagofigure]

Thank you

[@hadleymanmusic]

I like it a simple gobo projector

[@Melissa0774]

Do you think this could work outdoors during the day?

[@mrwhompass1986]

Thx brother

[@janiecardona4740]

I followed the instructions and it worked... except i got double outlines. Thoughts?

[@elainabensen9533]

Also, nice clap light....

[@ShacreamArt]

Cool

[@sfisolungisani3799]

😂😂😂 thanks this is funny

[@sugarpuffs5]

The light source may give you double outlines. I used different torches and it worked but not with a torch with several LED's.