Monday, August 01, 2011

How-To: Hanging Yarn Lamp

DIY Hanging Yarn Ball Lamp




What you will Need:

White School Glue
Corn Starch
Measuring Cup
Water
100% Cotton Yarn
Socket with a Die Cast Cap (Lowes or Home Depot. Tell them you need to buy a socket because you are making a hanging lamp. They will know what you mean and show you what you need, see photo)
12 Ft. Swag Light Kit (Lowes or Home Depot. See Photo)
Party Balloons (Large)
Dollar Store Shower Curtain (to help with the mess!)
Fishing String






Lets Begin:

Start by Blowing up a Balloon and tying it to a Piece of Yarn. Hang the balloon from something. I hung mine from the ceiling. You can also tie a rope between two chairs and hang the balloon from the rope.


Lay your Dollar Store Shower Curtain under your balloon:


Now we will make the paste that you will dip your yarn in:


Paste:
1/2 Cup of Corn Starch
1/4 Cup of Warm Water
1 White School Glue Bottle
Mix Together. No Lumps Please :)


It should be a runny, but not watery

Go back to your balloon. Here is the messy part! Dip your fingers in the paste and run it over the yarn. Make sure that the yarn is covered in the paste. (You can also put the yarn in the paste, but this is way messier and uses more paste than needed, but if it helps)


Begin wrapping the paste soaked yarn around the balloon:


Keep wrapping the paste soaked yarn until the balloon is covered. Wrap as far as you would like. You do want little spaces to show, so light comes through. 


Once wrapped, let the balloon dry for at least 12hrs. 


After the yarn ball is dry, pop the balloon and remove it from inside of the yarn ball.


You should have something that looks like the photo above.

Now you will put together your swag light kit. It was a lot easier than I though it would be.

First put the wire through the top of the metal lid's hole. Then, wrap the wire around the screws and then tighten the screws down. Once you have done this slide the metal lid down and screw it onto the socket.


It should look like this:



Make sure you use a low heat energy saver light bulb. You want to use a light bulb that will produce very little heat since the ball is made of yarn.


I used fishing string to tie my socket into the top area of my yarn ball to make sure it stays in. 




YOU'RE FINISHED!



*Do not leave lamp on when you are not home*

Enjoy!

6 comments:

  1. Nice! I was trying to do one but the balloon exploded! Any suggestions?

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