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How to Make a DIY Movie Projector for Your Phone

Love this post-vacation life hack from my contributing writer today! We were just showing photos from our recent vacation and it was tough to share via the phone so we needed to come up with a different idea! Hope this inspires you to DIY a solution for yourself, too! 

I just came back from a trip and really wanted to show the best that these pictures we’ve taken can give. That small phone screen was showing colors beautifully. Yet, it was all about the details that were so hardly visible”. This is how you may realize that you need a Movie Projector that can connect to your smartphone. There are plenty available in stores, but there’s also the DIY version that can save you time and money.

Looking at an image, a video or even a movie from your smartphone on a big screen might sound tempting. It has all the right reasons to be so, if you can solve this in your home. This DIY hack will turn your phone in a movie projecting tool in an hour. You will need just a few tools to make this super simple movie Projector.

Image from Flikr.

Get Prepared for the DIY Movie Projector

You need around five to ten minutes to read this article and learn how to make a projector for your phone. Putting pieces together lasts around 60 minutes. Here are the tools you need:

  • Shoe box or any other box larger than your phone and taller than how wide your phone is.

  • Duct tape or glue.

  • Round magnifying glass. If it has a handle, you will need to cut it.

  • Cutter knife.

  • Pencil.

How to Make a DIY Movie Projector in 7 Steps

  1. Prepare the box by gluing or adding duct tape to the interior of the box. This way, you reinforce the flaps and corners and it will not wiggle when in use. Let it dry for 15 minutes.

  2. Place the lens on top of your box, while it’s uptight. Center it as much as possible. Then, draw its cut line with the pencil, to mark the spot.

  3. Cut the box by following the trace you’ve made above. Here’s a trick to make the cut as accurate as possible – place the cutting knife at the end of a compass and create a round hole.

  4. Position the lens before gluing or taping it, to make sure the hole matches the magnifying glass. There must be no unused space, to avoid light entering the box.

  5. Glue or tape the lens to the box. Check again if there’s any light leakage. For image clarity purposes, we recommend duct tape instead of glue, as it has more stability.

  6. Make the phone stand and place it inside the box. You can create a phone stand out of plastic, cards, wood and many other materials. However, the easiest is the one from paper clips.

  7. Adjust the phone before using it. Once you place your smartphone in the box and play a video, you will see that the image is reverted and unfocused. Enhance brightness to the maximum. Then, move the box forward or backwards to focus the image. Reorient the image by reverting the phone, using an app or personalized settings (available only on iOS).

Personalizing Your DIY Movie Projector

If you enjoy you new movie projector and plan to use it on the long run, you can personalize it with just a few hacks. If your box has a lid, you will need to cut it when placing it back, instead of turning the box upside down. Make sure the lens is fully visible through the lid.

Moreover, you can have an artistic projector by using a wooden box that you can paint fresh. Personalize the box by painting its exterior and even adding stickers. The phone stand can also be wooden and color-match the box.

The movie projector is functional for movies or TV shows if you don’t forget to charge your phone. You can do this while you’re at the above step 2. When you draw and cut the hole for the lens, make sure you also cut a very small one at the opposite end. This will be the hole you use for your phone charger wire.

Using Your DIY Movie Projector

  • Remember that you need a dark room for watching videos or pictures through a projector.

  • The image is best visible on a white wall with no colorings or decorative paintings. If you have any, remove them before using the projector. If you only cover them, you might end up with a weird image.

  • If your walls are colored, place a white sheet on the wall where you project the image.

Clean your phone screen before starting a movie and you will enjoy clear and generously colored images. The DIY projector may sound sci-fi before you learn how to create it. However, then you will notice that you get maximum results with minimum tools. The images are anything but pixelated or blurry, while the movie atmosphere is visible in your home.

You don’t need to empty your wallet or spend an entire day preparing to watch a good movie or your vacation pictures. The above DIY hack requires just a few dollars and tools you already have. Once the projector is completed, you will enjoy taking pictures and making videos even more.



This post first appeared on Stuff Parents Need - Easing The Chaos In The Nest,, please read the originial post: here

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How to Make a DIY Movie Projector for Your Phone

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