Hot air balloon lamp tutorial

So I finally got it done. The hot air balloon lamp tutorial. I really hope this helps some of you out but as a caution remember that I am not a electrician and the way I hang the lamp might not work out for you. Hopefully though you understand my idea and from there you can change it to the way it works out for you.

If you don’t know what lamp I’m talking about here is a link to the original post. So let start!

1. Start by making the basket. This is what your going to need.

2. First tape over the tin can with the washi tapes. The use the decoupage glue. If you don’t have washi tapes, you can e.g. paint the cans. If you don’t have decoupage glue, I think that glue that just dries clear will do. I prefer to put some sort of glue on the tapes just to make sure that the tapes don’t start falling off when they start drying.

3. After the can has dried, use the little screw driver to poke the holes at the very edge of the can. I used this screw driver since it has strong enough to go through the tin as well as the end result was clean. Remember to poke the holes in the correct places.

4. Here’s a picture of one of the holes.

5. Do not cut the strings too short at this point. Then you have enough length to see how close the basket is to the lamp.

6. Trust me. Use something that will help you push the thread through the small holes. 

7. Do put a double knot so i does not fall off at any point. If you really want to make sure then add a dab of glue to the knot. Cut off the excess thread for a clean finish.

8. Now you have all the strings in place. Time for the lamp.

 

9. This is the lamp that I bought from Ikea. One of my readers did inform me that the U.S. Ikea does not sell them anymore but she did buy some off Ebay . But use your imagination. This isn’t the only lamp that works for this. In Finland they sell the white one only.

 

10. Assemble the lamp.

 

11. Turn it upside down…

 

12. Use the little screw driver again.

13.  Now you can attach the tin can. Use the screw driver again to push the strings through the holes like we did in step 6.

14. You can trim off the excess string bits and you’re pretty close already.

 

15. make some decorations: garlands! You need:

 

16. The desired length of the thread is up to you. About 60 cm threads are pretty good. Make as many as you like. I made two.

 

17. After you have cut the triangles, make a loop at the end of each thread. Four loops all together. 

18. You can then attach the garlands to the lamp by the loops. The lamps legs are perfect for the loops.

19. Next you are going to hang up the lamp. Note that this tutorial part only works for the room I have. If you don’t have the possibility to do it like me then you must think of another way.

You’re going to need 2 screw hooks and strong fishing line. I was able to screw the hook onto a curtain board that went across the room and a cupboard.

20. This is the fishing line I used.

21. here you can see a close up of the fishing line which I stretched across the space. the whole idea is that I do not want it to be visible.

22. This is the curtain board that I wrote about.

23. Now attach the lamp to the fishing line. Twist away.

24. Since the lamp’s original light switch is nearly touching the roof and it will be covered by the clouds there is no point in using that. I solved it by adding one of those extension cords with a switch of their own. Now the switch is much closer to the ground. Looks quite messy when I took the picture but sort it out and it will be good.

25. Drum roll…..it works!

26. Now create the clouds. You need:

27. The idea of the clouds is to make the ugly cord disappear.  Tie the loop very close to the hook so you can start making the clouds right from that point.

28. Remember this. It’ll make the twisting a lot easier.

29. Twist light. Otherwise the filling does not look fluffy like a cloud. Remember to turn on the light switch first!

30. You can make more than one cloud. This time I did a small and big one.

31. Remember the garlands. Add them by using the lamp’s legs.

32. Phew…now enjoy and find a friend to fly in the basket.

End of tutorial. I hope you got an idea of how I created the lamp. if you are still wondering how I put three of those lamps in one place then look at step 23. Here I twisted only one lamp around the fishing line. Then I twisted three cords. I first twisted one and then the second and so on. You just have to make sure you have the lamp at the correct height.

Hope this helped and don’t hesitate to ask if there is something still unclear.

Have a great day and go make a hot air balloon lamp.

– Alina

 

 

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