No offence taken! When I set out to build, I tend to suffer from possibility paralysis in the planning stages - too much thinking, not enough doing. So I just jump in and make. I agree that a more thoughtful design might have helped.

To be honest, I don't know what type of plastic the strips are. A client sent a large number of sheets to my workplace to be trimmed to a specific size. They called it a filter, and my guess was that it was to be installed in florescent overhead lighting fixtures. After all the cutting was done, I couldn't bear to thrown the strips away.

I ended up stacking them up and drilling a hole wide enough to fit the chord of the light fixture (a 5 Below product which was "liberated" from a co-worker), threaded the cord through and fanned them out. The light connections were glued shut, hence the electrical tape.

I may just take another run at it with proper components (everything pictured was free), as you suggest. If I do, I will be sure to post it up. Thank you for the thoughtful constructive criticism. :)