You can make a large, shallow moon wall decoration by stretching a moon-image shower curtain over a flexible PEX hoop, adding LED strip lighting and frosted vinyl diffuser layers, then supporting the frame with several wall-mounted PEX clips. The project needs only basic hand tools, but the light color, diffusion and mounting method have a major effect on the finished look.
How the backlit moon is built
This is a thin wall piece, not a sculpted sphere. The PEX tubing forms a flexible circular frame; the printed shower-curtain material supplies the moon image; LED strip lighting illuminates it from behind; and frosted vinyl curtain layers soften the light. The original build was documented by Caleb Kraft for Make: in March 2019.
Materials and tools
- Moon image: A shower curtain printed with a moon image, selected large enough for the intended hoop.
- Frame: PEX tubing, which Kraft found flexible enough to form a hoop and soft enough to staple into.
- Lighting: Adhesive-backed LED strip lighting. Choose the light color deliberately; the original builder found the white setting on his inexpensive RGB strip too blue.
- Diffuser: One or more inexpensive frosted vinyl shower curtains to soften the LEDs behind the image.
- Fasteners and supports: Staples to hold the image material to the tubing, plus PEX clips and screws to support the hoop on the wall.
- Tools: A hand saw, staple gun and scissors. Kraft used a pull saw intended for wood to cut the tubing.
Build the moon frame and face
- Form the hoop. Cut PEX tubing to the size needed for the moon and bend it into a circle. The source does not give a tubing diameter, wall size or cutting measurement, so determine the scale for your room and curtain image.
- Check the curtain image before trimming. Center the moon image over the hoop and inspect how the printed area and any grommets fall. Kraft chose a larger curtain despite an elongated moon image and grommets overlapping part of the image.
- Stretch and staple the image. Pull the shower-curtain material across the hoop and staple it to the PEX. Keep the tension reasonably even around the perimeter, then trim away excess material with scissors.
Add LEDs and diffuse the light
Attach the adhesive-backed LED strip to the PEX behind the image, then place frosted vinyl curtain material behind the lighting as a diffuser. The goal is a more even glow rather than sharply visible points of light. Kraft experimented with added diffuser layers and more LEDs; these are qualitative observations, not measured brightness or spacing specifications.
Choose the LED color for the moon you want
The RGB strip in Kraft’s build produced a white setting he described as “super blue,” and he said he would choose a truer-white strip and skip RGB if repeating the project. For a more neutral-looking moon, prioritize the quality of the white light rather than assuming an RGB strip’s white mode will look natural. The source does not identify an LED model, color temperature or brightness rating.
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Balance diffusion against depth
More diffusion can soften hotspots, while moving the lights farther from the image improved the glow in Kraft’s experiments. The tradeoff is a thicker installation that projects farther from the wall. The source gives no controlled comparison or prescribed spacing, so treat placement as a visual adjustment rather than a fixed measurement.
Mount the flexible frame without distorting it
A single hook left Kraft’s flexible hoop somewhat distorted. He instead screwed multiple PEX clips into the wall and pressed the frame into them, distributing its support. He cut some tips off the clips to reduce how tightly they gripped the tubing. If adapting that approach, arrange supports around the hoop so it is held evenly; the article does not specify clip spacing, screw type or wall-anchor requirements.
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What the original project cost—and what those figures mean
The prices below are Caleb Kraft’s shopping observations from 2019, not current estimates or quotes a reader can rely on today. He considered a custom six-foot-wide high-resolution image printed on backlit plastic before choosing the shower-curtain approach.
| Option | Reported price and context |
|---|---|
| Six-foot-wide high-resolution moon print on backlit plastic | Over $200; sign-shop quote reported by Kraft in 2019. |
| Large moon-image shower curtain | Roughly $30; price reported by Kraft in 2019. |
| Smaller moon-image shower curtain | $40; price reported by Kraft in 2019. |
| Another curtain option | $50; price reported by Kraft in 2019; Kraft says he did not buy it. |
These are project-specific historical figures, not evidence of what comparable materials cost now. Curtain designs and product availability may also have changed since the article was published.
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Optional idea: make the lighting follow moon phases
Kraft proposed using a microcontroller and real-time clock to create changing moon-phase lighting as a possible extension. That feature was not implemented in the described build, so it should be treated as a separate electronics project rather than a capability of the basic decoration.
Quick Recap
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