I have always been a fan of decorating with lights, whether it was for my room, during holidays, or any other appropriate place. The soft glow of the lights gives an environment a more aesthetic feel, and overall I find it relaxing. To spice things up a bit, I decided to create a giant cloud lamp because it gives an extra dreamy feel to a room, and it's a fun project to do in just a couple of easy steps.You can turn simple materials into one big ball of light! All in all, this DIY is an easy to make project to do in your free time.

I tried two different types of lights for this project (soft lights and LED programmable lights) and they both turned out great! Notice the difference in color and effect. Decide what's more for your taste.

For this specific tutorial, I will go through a step by step process using soft colored christmas lights.

Step 1: Materials and Tools

What Your Cloud Will be Made of:

- Poly-fil (any type of cloud looking material will work)

- Any size clear box (I used a 59.7 cm x 42.9 cm box)

- Christmas Lights or LED Strip Lights

- Fishing Line

- Extension Cord

Possible Tools Needed to Assemble (Not all Pictured):

- Marker

- Scissors

- Electrical Tape

- Hot Glue Gun/ Glue Fillings (At least 20 refills)

- Exacto Knife

- Hammer (optional)

- Command Hooks or Small Nails (To hang the lamp)

Step 2: Prepare the Base

Cut small holes (about 5-7 mm) on both sides of the box near the handles. These will be used to hang the cloud lamp up later on to give it that realistic feel.

Caution: If the base is a plastic box like mine, take your time when cutting the holes. Too much pressure may crack your box. I suggest carving out the plastic slowly until a hole forms. Also, be careful when using the sharp knife.

What You Need:

- Base or Plastic Box

- Marker

- Exacto Knife

Step 3: Create the First Layer

Take medium sized Poly-fil chunks (enough to fill the palm of your hand) and start hot gluing to the base. Make sure there isn't too much or too little material. The first layer will act as your foundation for the next layer so the material should be well distributed.

In this step, I suggest applying the glue directly to the base because it sticks better to the plastic. Evenly spread the material out until the whole box is covered and fill in any gaps.

Depending on the size of the base, having more than one person working on it will help to speed up the process.

Caution: To avoid burns, don't touch the glue right after applying. It's HOT!

What You Need:

- Base or Plastic Box

- Poly-fil

- Hot Glue Gun/ Glue Fillings

Step 4: Secure the First Layer

In preparation for the next layer, wrap fishing line around the whole box, horizontally then vertically (see videos for more information).

More Detailed Instruction:

This will help the material stick together when the next layer is applied. You don't want your cloud to fall apart overtime!

Once the fishing line is wrapped horizontally around the box and you're ready to wrap vertically, secure the fishing line so it won't unwrap. I did this by stringing the line under the parallel lines created at the opening of the box.

After the fishing line is completely wrapped around, tie or glue the fishing line to the cross sections at the opening of the box.

Note: I found the fishing line hard to tie so I tied it as tight as possible, then hot glued it together.

What You Need:

- Fishing Line

- Hot Glue Gun

Step 5: Create the Second Layer

Now that you have secured the first layer, you're ready for the second layer of cloud fluff! This layer is more for shaping your cloud.

For safer and easy application, hot glue your desired cloud chunk apart from the base then firmly apply it to the cloud (see pictures).

I wanted to make it as realistic as possible, so I put huge chunks near the center of each side of my box to round the shape out.

What You Need:

- Poly-fil

- Hot Glue Gun/ Glue Filling

Step 6: Check for Loose Pieces

To ensure that there are no loose pieces of Poly-fil, take your box and shake it.

Any loose pieces will either fall out or dangle. Glue them back in place.

Step 7: Insert Lights

We're halfway there! Just feed the lights into the box. Have some patience with the lights, they may get caught in the fishing line, so go slow!

Also, to make the next step easier, set aside the plug end of the lights so you don't have to dig through the box for it.

What You Need:

- Cloud

- Lights

Step 8: Lights On!

Take your extension cord and plug your lights in. If you plan to hang the cloud up, and are using lights like mine, the extension cord will be useful to reach an outlet.

What You Need:

- Extension Cord

- Cloud w/ Lights

Step 9: Distribute the Light (Optional)

Depending on the size of the container used, the light may not be well spread out. Notice how most of the light shines through at the bottom of the cloud.

To distribute the light, take 1.5 inch strips of electrical tape, and tape up strings of lights to the inside of your cloud. Basically, move lights around within your box to make it look distributed!

Notice the difference between the initial non-distributed light vs. the well distributed light.

What You Need:

- Cloud w/ Lights

- Scissors

- Electrical Tape

Step 10: Prepare to Hang Cloud

Recall the small holes we created in the beginning steps. String the fishing line through the holes to the preferred length and then do the same for the other side (see drawing). Make sure each side has the same length! Tie the line securely.

What You Need

- Fishing Line

- Cloud w/ Light

Step 11: Hang It Up

Have someone help you with this step if your cloud is as big as mine! Find a good place to hang up your new decoration, and apply your command hooks or nails. I used nails because they were a lot stronger than the command hooks.

Finished! Now sit back and marvel your work :)