Spice up your boots with custom animated NeoPixel LED lit shoelaces. Sync them to each other wirelessly using the free and open-source WLED software, and then take them out dancing in the great outdoors. Your shoes will stay connected to each other even when you're out of reach of WiFi.

WLED's access-point mode keeps your shoes connected and in sync. You can still connect to your shoes and control the animation modes with your smartphone, even when you're lost in the desert or deep in the woods. 

This is an easy project that requires just a little soldering. You'll need to do some software configuration, but no coding. WLED gives you dozens of customizable animation modes and color palettes to choose from. Make a playlist of super cool animations with just a few taps on your phone.

Materials

The QT Py ESP32 Pico is a fantastic tiny little board that makes NeoPixel projects easy. Hook it up to the NeoPixel BFF to plug the pixels directly into the board. Remember to get two of everything - one for each foot.

My boots have 9 sets of eyelets. I found that 1m of LEDs fill the shoelace holes perfectly. If your boots are taller, order more pixels. 

These slim LED dots are a great choice for this project. Initially I tried using a standard NeoPixel Skinny strip to get more lights, but the light strand broke when I tried threading it through the eyelets. These pixels are made to bend and flex, and I had a lot more success with them. They're also a lot less expensive. You only get 20 lights in the strand but that is plenty of lights to show some awesome animations on your feet.

Accessories & Cables

Adafruit carries a short USB C cable which will work to connect the QT Py to your battery. Or, check below for a cable that also has an on/off switch. 

Additional Materials