DIY Walmart Hack

In a quest to make a light box that will handle a two-page 12x12 scrapbook layout, I came across this tutorial. Since I had to go to Walmart anyway, I figured I'd look at lamps and pick up a flat sheet while I was there. When I was looking for the sheets section, I happened to walk through the laundry aisle and spotted this handy little contraption! Looky there, pre cut PVC pipe, no hubby needed! This helps with my tendancy to "have it now" as my husband is so fond of reminding me.

Here are the items I started out with:

Instead of putting it together per the directions, I started out with the two longest sets of tubes and the corner brackets.

I put the longest set of tubes together to make the top of the light tent.

I took the hacksaw to the other four tubes and cut them to about 18 inches. The cut ends aren't pretty, but they'll be in the corner brackets so it doesn't matter.

I placed the new lamps on either side of the tent, taped a piece of posterboard to the back edge for a nice seamless look, and started snapping away!

Here's my result using the light tent:

To be fair, I went back and tried the box again but with the new lamps, and this is what I got:

Not much difference if you ask me, so it comes down to which is more practical. Since I can use all of the PVC tubes to make different sized boxes, and the whole thing collapses down to store it, I think I'll stick with the light tent. It seems like the cardboard box will be harder to store without risking a "crushing incident" with my oafish dogs. I really like the results I got with the box, and if cards and other small things were all I would be photographing, the box would do quite nicely. However, I really like the flexability of the tent, and since I got the same results it only makes sense to keep one of them.

Thanks for looking!

Cheers!