Hey guys just an update on something I’m proud to have put together on a very tight budget. I’ve had a shelf that I’ve been placing all my collectables onto over the last 2 years now, slowing adding bit by bit. I’ve always wanted to be able to set up a lighting display some how but have never been keen on spending lots of money just for lighting and I also done have a fancy cabinet to begin with. Here I just want to share with you how you can set up a pretty rocking display shelf by spending very little just by being a little creative and smart about it.
THE SHELF:
Starting with the main point: You will need some kind of shelving to put all your prized items to show. I went to a local store that stocks packed furniture and found this big shelf for about $80, it came in Black or White. I chose white so my items would stand out more rather than against a dark surround. As you see here in this early version I was just putting whatever I had at the time on there. No keep in mind you won’t really be putting any 25″ Premium Format statues on here or anything but we’re working on a budget!
THE LIGHTING:
Here is the awesome part. I searched everywhere for lighting, reasonably priced lighting. I wanted lighting that was easy to set up and easy to place where I wanted. The only thing was there is plenty out there to choose from, but on a budget, that’s going to really narrow it down. I couldn’t find what I wanted and couldn’t think of how I was going to tackle it. A friend of mine saw me post a photo of my Dragonballs set and noticed I wanted to set up a lighting display for it. He let me know that he just bought some kitchen lights and put them on his shelf. You know? The little LED lights you stick onto drawers and such? I immediately thanked him and jumped online to find some. Again I didn’t want to pay more than $5 for each of them and on my shelf which has like 15 spots that was going to get expensive fast. I went to eBay and wouldn’t you know it, I found a seller who had them for $1 EACH! That was a steal, so I bought 10 of them straight up, free postage too mind you. So then I realised that these take 3 AAA batteries each. I wonder down to my local IGA and found a sale on a big stack of AAA batteries for $8 down from $14. Needless to say I snatched them up. From this pack I managed to have enough to fill 8 of the 10 lights I had received. It will do for now until I get more. So I stuck them on my priority spots first and my goodness, it turned out better than I thought.
THE END RESULT:
As you can see you can indeed spend very little money and get quite a big impact. I am very satisfied with how this turned out and the bonus is I can choose which ones I want lit up in any arrangement without having them all on at once. For those collectors out there like me who barely get the money together to collect your items and don’t have the income or the funds for a fancy shelf display with glass and recess lighting, this is a great alternative. I hope you enjoyed my tips and it might give you some ideas on how to do something like this yourself.
TOTAL DISPLAY EXPENDITURE: $98.00