String Pendant Lamp

Step 1: Materials

• fabric stiffener (1 16oz. bottle per lamp that you'd like make)
• large spherical party balloons (can be gotten at a party shop in the 16" or 3' sizes)
• crochet thread or thin cotton yarn
• lamp cord set (Ikea sells the HEMMA for $3.99 that will work great)
• rubber gloves
• newspaper (it makes a bit of a mess)

Comments

[sarahbelle42]

I made a ornament once doing this, and used white glue. It left a clear but noticeable layer in open spots, and didn't look that great...I would definitely use the fabric stiffener!

[Glockenator]

you could just use white glue instead of trying to find fabric stiffener

[makalove]

i agree. i've done many of these string globes using diluted white glue. It dries pretty transparent if you water it down. Never thought to turn them into a lamp, though. GREAT idea! i live in an apartment with no overhead lighting in several of the rooms, so i've been thinking about making lamps.

[noahw]

Fabric stiffener is available at just about every large box craft store, Michaels, Jo-Ann's, Beverly's etc...so I don't think anyone will have too hard of a time finding it. 

I think white glue would work, but it probably wouldn't flow and wet out as well, and may have a tendency to leave more semi-transparent white buildup once it's dry.

[cuesegue]

White glue also has a tendency to yellow and crack over time. I don't know if that would happen in this project but....

[sixsmith]

you can thin white glue so that it has a lighter viscosity.
I once cut it about half and half with water so i could spray it out of a squirt bottle to stabilize some ground cover medium on a model rail road layout. it instantly seeped into all the little spots between the miniature rocks.
I imagine it would do something similar with cotton thread  

[Glockenator]

not easy to find where i live. the closest fabric store is 45 km away

[Grandma Jo in KY]

You need to look in any grocery store where laundry stuff is and look for "starch"

[motherbones]

This is true...I made one once using white glue and the residue it left made it look like a kids' craft project...not very neat.  The stiffner gives it a nice clean look.

[peacenique]

Maybe it would work best if you watered the glue down ~ like you would if you were doing papier mache or decoupage.

I think I'd want to put more string on it, to make it a little less see-through. 

I agree with flamethrower, a nicer fixture, or maybe even just a nicer lightbulb ~ like one of those round ones...

As far as adding Christmas lights... it's certainly do-able.  I made a grapevine 'globe' like this one, and used a string of lights in it.  Looks awesome!  I bet one of these string ones with those teeny white LED's would look like it was full of fireflies!

Thanks noahw, great 'ible!