Oh - this light!! I have a LOVE/HATE relationship with this light! I LOVE the way it looks! I LOVE that it gives this room the much needed TEXTURE it was so desperately lacking! I LOVE the ambiance that it gives to my dining room. But, I HATE how much time this took and the frustration that came with this project!
Let me start from the beginning of this projects "story"....
Here is my inspiration for my light....
I thought this light was really cool looking! I liked that it could be BIG, UNIQUE and I could do it on a BUDGET - holla ! So I went to the Hobby Lobby and bought a few different types of yarn... Big thick yarn, and small thin yarn - even sparkly yarn.. Once I decided which one to use I gathered my materials and got ready to start - my first attempt that is......
Material List:
*Yarn of your choice - get 3 just in case you want more depth (different sizes, colors, textures)
*Disposable table cloth
*Disposable paint tray (Dollar Tree has them for $1)
*Fabric Hardener (I used Stiffy)
*Yoga Ball (I used medium size)
*Light fixture (I used the HEMMA fixture from IKEA)
*Chain and Cap for ceiling (possibly from the fixure you are going to replace) - just paint it - I did!
*Paint to paint chain and light (I used Rustoleum Oil Rubbed Bronze)
*Light Bulb (sounds silly, but I forgot it first time - SMH)
*An old (or new) 3 strand hanging plant pot chain
LOTS OF PATIENCE!!
First, get out your NEW Yoga ball - or lets admit it, you just pulled that one out from that cabinet next to your DVD player... SO then - dust it off.... Get your yarn and STIFFY out - (giggle giggle) - and lets get to work. (DON'T FORGET YOUR TABLE CLOTH TOO).
After you lay out your table cloth, get out your supplies. Lay out your paint tray (this is to work with the fabric hardener and let you get your yarn "wet". The "Stiffy" is simply liquid glue. I learned to unroll a good bit at a time to work with - because it gets tangled easily and "Aint Nobody Got Time for That"! I learned that I needed a starting point (from my first attempt) so I added a crochet ring. I taped this to the top - using the yoga ball plug as the middle starting point. This comes in handy later. Tie the 1st yarn to the crochet ring and wrap the yarn around the ball. Wrap and wrap all around, and around and around in everyway possible! Always wrapping around the crochet ring. This is key because when it comes time to deflate the ball, because you are going to need a way to take the yoga ball out of there....!!
Once you have applied your yarn - you need to allow this to dry for up to 3 - 7 days! I know... Its hard! And its even harder to keep curious kids away from it as well!!
This is the pic of my first one.. Which was ruined by my 3 yr old.. But I realized I didn't take any pics of the 2nd one. But this is how it will look once the yarn hardens..
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| IKEA LIGHT - HEMMA Light fixture **Make sure you buy the correct one you need. Are you going to wire it into the ceiling/wall? Or do you need a plug in fixture? I needed one that I could wire into my ceiling so I chose a hard wire. |
Here is the light assembly from IKEA. I thought that my INSPIRATION PIECE was cool, but was to simplistic for a dining room. I didn't like that you could see the light bulb, so I wanted some sort of shade in there to make it look more elegant - I suppose... But this fixture is cheap looking, but I needed something that would fit INTO the my crochet ring. ***Make sure when selecting a light fixture to go in your "GLOBE" that it fits into the crochet ring!!!!*** So, to make this lamp shade look more expensive, I took the chain from the GOLD chandelier off and painted it with my goto Rustoleum Oil Rubbed bronze and the cord as well. I also removed the plastic IKEA cap and used the GOLD one from my chandelier and painted it Oil Rubbed Bronze as well. I thought this gave it more elegant effect as well.
Once that was ready to go... It was time to deflate the ball... Oh this part sucks!!! Seriously! Do it slowly and use a butter knife to push it off the glue soaked yarn as it deflates...
***I ended up using an old hanging plant chain (with 3 chains) to hold it while I worked on it. This was very helpful and I ended up using it on my final design...
Once you get the ball out, you will probably need some of your left over yarn to wrap around the crochet ring to "finish" where you had to cut the string to get the ball out. This is really a learning experience and it is hard to explain here... Once you get the hole ready for your light, its time to hang the light.
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| To keep costs down, I have cheap labor... XOXO - The hubs is very handy!! He practically finishes all of my projects for me! He is the BEST!! Thank goodness I married and engineer!! |
Like I said, I ended up using my old plant chains to hold the globe centered and attached it to my chain - which I threaded my light fixture cord through. So basically the IKEA light fixture and chain are the only part attached to the ceiling. My yarn globe is attached to the chain hanging from the ceiling with the old plant chains.... Make sense? I hope so...
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| You can see here, The larger ring is the crochet ring. The smaller ring is the old lampshade I put on the light. I wrapped yarn around both to give it a more finished look. You can also see the plant chain and how I painted the cord, chain and cap. |
And there you go!! Now you have a beautiful and UNIQUE light in your home! Everyone that sees it - just raves about it! Its one of a kind and you can make it as bold or neutral as you like!
I know that a lot of people feel as though they don't have TIME to be creative and do these types of projects...
But I do!! I have the time!!
Let me help you be creative!! And to strech every dollar!
Thanks for reading! Post any questions or feedback below!
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