Yarn Lantern

Intro: Yarn Lantern

Yarn & string lanterns are quite popular since couple years. it's like iphone, stylish, costs is almost zero but price tag is absolutely overkill (at least in turkey). this entry shows how to do it yourself.

STEP 1: Requirements

+ 50~100 meters of straw rope = $2

+ wood glue = $2

+ balloon (condom works too) = $0.5

+ 3000k warm white light bulb = $5

+ textile dye (optional) = $10

STEP 2: Process

1. inflate the balloon

2. dip the rope to wood glue

3. wrap the wet rope around balloon

STEP 3: Finalization

now wait about 2-3 days to dry. pop the balloon and clean leftovers from the cage structure. few people on youtube adding some water and corn starch to make glue more thinner. i didn't used it but it allows quick cleaning in this stage.

STEP 4: Hang to Ceiling

I wrapped the same rope around the light bulb handler and attached the chandelier without touching to cage walls, it's the hard way but i think that's more stylish and blocks more light to watch movies on flat panel and do the basic tasks in the room same time.

my phone's light meter measured 80lux which is shows 1000 in full overcast day

original product = around $30 to 80
handmade version = $9.5 plus 2 hours total

Comments

[hollydesbois]

It would be cheaper to spray the string at the end rather than spending so much money on dye

[HelenaTroy]

I tried spraying a small yarn globe I made: it was hard to get inside, to make sure i'd covered all the yarn from all angles. Took an awful lot of paint. That might just have been me, though!

[HelenaTroy]

I've tried this with wool, the problem I had was the wet wool kept sliding over the balloon when I tried to change the direction of the wrap. I'm obviously doing something wrong somewhere.

[psychip]

i don't know it's exact name but mine was the same rope type which using in coffee sacks.

[RobB10]

Burlap, perhaps? I think that'd make a great material.

[psychip]

exactly! it's the burlap, also it's the name of the textile which built with same rope.

[HelenaTroy]

Ah, that gives me some idea of what to look for thanks. sigh, and I went a bit mad and bought half a ton of knitting wool to use this way! no doubt i'll find other uses for it

[pattiemelt]

If you want a colored lamp & don't want to deal with the dye, you can always buy burlap by the yard at the fabric store. It comes in lots of colors. You would need to disassemble the cloth to use it so there's a trade-off.

[dbshankar]

I was planning to create one myself and your guide helps me a lot to accomplish my goal

[jose m]

i saw an instructable on this more than a year ago which explains it better -

https://www.instructables.com/id/Thread-Lampshade

[Jack of Most Trades]

Those were so popular back in the 1970's. Cool project!

[mattcintosh]

They made these with acrylic back in the 70's. Try using a clear light bulb for a real cool effect.

[batonas]

made it few months ago for crafts like this, works like a charm.

[BeachsideHank]

I like this, can be made from scrap bits of yarn, string, or even wire- thanks for the idea.