Hey there! We are so incredibly excited to have the walls painted. Initially, we were going to stencil a cool design behind the bed but my lovely babygirl changed her mind. Since turning 13, I have noticed that her mind changes quite a bit and that I need to exercise more flexibility than I usually do! Ah.... teenage parenting... so fun!
(for a list of our upcoming projects, click HERE)
Where were we? Oh yeah, the walls. So now that the walls are pretty, the next project we moved forward on was installing a pendant lamp in the corner where her armchair will eventually go. The first idea was to DIY a feather pendant lamp. However, we are on a budget and buying the ostrich feathers for a lamp was turning out to be quite cost prohibitive. So we scoured the internet and babygirl settled on another super cool but more economical lamp project... a String Pendant Lamp. YIPPEE! I loved this idea so much. Plus we had 90% of EVERYTHING to make this project in our home. So the cost = $ LOW!
A while back we both fell in love with a string light fixture that we saw in the window display of Anthro, so this was a perfect opportunity to bring that design into our home.
We went with a beach ball because Babygirl didn't want a really large lamp, but I have seen DIYers who have used exercise balls (36" round). You can go smaller or larger than what we are doing. It's totally up to you and what fits into and looks best in your space.
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Inflate the beach ball and, taking your Sharpie, draw a circle a little larger than the size of your lightbulb. It doesn't need to be perfect. This is where you will insert your cord kit. We drew our circle around the air valve to make it easy to hang and to make it easy to deflate later. Next, you want to rub vaseline all over the rest of the beach ball. This prevents the string from adhering to the beach ball when it's time to deflate it.
2. Hang the ball so that it's not touching anything. (We tied a string to the air valve on the beach ball and hung it from a spare closet rod between two folding chairs. I also HIGHLY SUGGEST covering your work surface with newspaper or a drop cloth or old sheet to protect it. The old sheet we used had decoupage glaze all over it by the time we finished.
3. We didn't really measure out the glue mixture. Basically you want to pour the entire bottle of Mod Podge into a mixing bowl, add a handful of cornstarch and then slowly add water until you get the consistency of coffee cream. VOILA! So profesh, right?
4. This project definitely takes two to tango - even if you have it hanging. To get started, you want to pull out a length of string from your yarn ball and tape the end of the string near the top of the ball just inside the circle you drew. We will cut this away later. Now place the rest of the yarn ball directly into your glue mixture.
5. Starting the design can be a little tricky, but once you get going, it's simple and fun. I recommend getting your fingers a little wet with the Mod Podge to get started. Ultimately, you want the yarn to have a cool, chaotic look. But to get started, I recommend doing a bunch of vertical wraps until you feel like things are pretty secure. Don't be afraid to pull tight into the beach ball a bit.
6. Babygirl and I each took an assignment: I held the beach ball still, while she wrapped as intentionally chaotic as she wanted to. After all this was her lamp so it needed to be her creation.
7. She took a step back several times to gauge how it looked. You don't want to under-do this, but you don't want to over-do it either. At some point you'll hit the sweet spot and you'll know it. That, or your back will be so tired and your hands will be so sticky that you'll cry uncle and conveniently be at a happy stopping point. You know either way.
8.Let it dry a full 24 hours. I periodically checked it for "soft spots", re-coated those areas with a foam brush and gave it another 24 hours after that. It is worth making sure all of the yarn is really good and hard.
(for a list of our upcoming projects, click HERE)
Where were we? Oh yeah, the walls. So now that the walls are pretty, the next project we moved forward on was installing a pendant lamp in the corner where her armchair will eventually go. The first idea was to DIY a feather pendant lamp. However, we are on a budget and buying the ostrich feathers for a lamp was turning out to be quite cost prohibitive. So we scoured the internet and babygirl settled on another super cool but more economical lamp project... a String Pendant Lamp. YIPPEE! I loved this idea so much. Plus we had 90% of EVERYTHING to make this project in our home. So the cost = $ LOW!
A while back we both fell in love with a string light fixture that we saw in the window display of Anthro, so this was a perfect opportunity to bring that design into our home.
What you'll need for the string pendant:
Cotton String | Petroleum Jelly | Mod Podge | Black Marker | Cornstarch | Water | Beach Ball or Punch Ball | Masking Tape | Cup and Mixing Bowl
We went with a beach ball because Babygirl didn't want a really large lamp, but I have seen DIYers who have used exercise balls (36" round). You can go smaller or larger than what we are doing. It's totally up to you and what fits into and looks best in your space.
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Inflate the beach ball and, taking your Sharpie, draw a circle a little larger than the size of your lightbulb. It doesn't need to be perfect. This is where you will insert your cord kit. We drew our circle around the air valve to make it easy to hang and to make it easy to deflate later. Next, you want to rub vaseline all over the rest of the beach ball. This prevents the string from adhering to the beach ball when it's time to deflate it.
2. Hang the ball so that it's not touching anything. (We tied a string to the air valve on the beach ball and hung it from a spare closet rod between two folding chairs. I also HIGHLY SUGGEST covering your work surface with newspaper or a drop cloth or old sheet to protect it. The old sheet we used had decoupage glaze all over it by the time we finished.
3. We didn't really measure out the glue mixture. Basically you want to pour the entire bottle of Mod Podge into a mixing bowl, add a handful of cornstarch and then slowly add water until you get the consistency of coffee cream. VOILA! So profesh, right?
4. This project definitely takes two to tango - even if you have it hanging. To get started, you want to pull out a length of string from your yarn ball and tape the end of the string near the top of the ball just inside the circle you drew. We will cut this away later. Now place the rest of the yarn ball directly into your glue mixture.
5. Starting the design can be a little tricky, but once you get going, it's simple and fun. I recommend getting your fingers a little wet with the Mod Podge to get started. Ultimately, you want the yarn to have a cool, chaotic look. But to get started, I recommend doing a bunch of vertical wraps until you feel like things are pretty secure. Don't be afraid to pull tight into the beach ball a bit.
6. Babygirl and I each took an assignment: I held the beach ball still, while she wrapped as intentionally chaotic as she wanted to. After all this was her lamp so it needed to be her creation.
7. She took a step back several times to gauge how it looked. You don't want to under-do this, but you don't want to over-do it either. At some point you'll hit the sweet spot and you'll know it. That, or your back will be so tired and your hands will be so sticky that you'll cry uncle and conveniently be at a happy stopping point. You know either way.
WOO HOO! We can't wait for this to dry so we can hang this bad boy! Next up we will be creating an ombre lamp cord to hang this awesome lamp. I know you want to see the finished project, dontcha? Yeah you do... so to quote the Beverly Hillbilies... "Y'all come back and see us now, ya hear?
xoxo
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