DIY soft box went wrong

I have been stuck in my condo for the past 3 days due to shoulder surgery and I have been focusing on my photography education. I have been looking at a lot of blogs and reading a ton about lighting. The blogs I have latched onto are Strobist and Chase Jarvis. Strobist is solely concentrated on off camera lighting and Chase Jarvis documents his commercial and lifestyle photography to the public very effectively on his blog.

In particular, Strobist made a DIY video on a macro light box or soft box and I thought "why not? I need one and I like saving money." So I picked up the essentials ($10) and made the box out of tissue paper, cardboard box, duct tape, exacto knife, packing tape and ingenuity. I set up the lights and my camera and my subject (iPhone) and took some photos. I started to adjust the white balance to get the correct light balance but it didn't work. I kept adjusting but no luck. I changed the lighting but still no luck. The results were just not what I expected. Set backs are inevitable.

My theory is lighting. I used tungsten lighting with the new energy saver bulbs but the colors just weren't good. I am waiting for my speed light to be shipped then I think it will work. I have some older speed lights but they don't want to turn on.