Hot Air Baloon Lamp

I love hot air balloons, and I think everyone else does too! That's why I've been thinking about this project for a while! My idea can used for a few different lamps - a cool desk lamp or a hanging lamp like I made. The cool thing about this project is that it should cost less than 10$ to make, made mostly out of used paper! And the result is a colorful air balloon that lightens up your room :)

"A hot air balloon is a lighter-than-air aircraft consisting of a bag, called an envelope, which contains heated air. Suspended beneath is a gondola or wicker basket....... which carries passengers and (usually) a source of heat, in most cases an open flame." -Wikipedia

You all know how a hot air balloon looks like, but it's always nice to know the right terminology:)

Like any other instructable, I believe the most important thing is to share our ideas. The techniques I used to make this lamp are simple, and I tried to share them - but keep in mind you can take it anywhere else! This is your lamp!

I cannot wait to see what you guys made!

Materials:

1) A bunch of popsicle sticks

2) Balloons

3) Paper mache materials (paper, all kind of glue)

4) Your choice of acrylic colors (we used different shades of blue).

5) Semi-transperent electric wire

6) A light socket (I used a ceramic one as the picture shows)

7) Some round-shaped plastic lid (of about 5cm radius)

8) Paper clips

Tools:

1) Hot glue gun & extra glue.

2) A screwdriver and a wire-cutter.1

This is the part you'll need the popsicle sticks. You can make your own basket fence design, just make sure that the different faces of the baskets weave together to make a closed form. After I made the 4 faces of basket fence, I glued them together using a hot glue gun, and glue a few more popsicle sticks to form the basket floor.

I then attached the light bulb socket and the wires to the basket. Make sure the wires are long enough. You can leave some extra just incase.

Inflate a balloon or a plastic ball. Make sure it's the right size for you, because this will be the size of your envelope. Make some paper mache - there are some great instructables on how to make it. I used a few types of glue and long paper strips to make the job of covering the entire balloon easier.

Once it's completely dry, add another layer. Add as many layers as needed - you want the ball to be firm enough to hold the basket.

Once the paper mache envelope is all done, drill a small hole at the top for the wires to go through.

Now comes the fun part! Choose your desired template and paint your balloon - my advice is that you google a few pictures of hot air balloons to make sure you like the colors and that they fit together:)

Once the colors are done, move on to the next step!

The last part would be to assemble the whole thing.

The important part is that you attach each part to lots of surface area so that the paper mache doesn't have to hold too much in one spot. I used a pair of popsicle sticks to hand the basket, and some old plastic lid to hand the entire hot air balloons from. The paper clips can help you hold everything together while you glue the pieces in place, or you can even leave them inside if you like:)

Connect the wires to an electric switch and add a light bulb. You can hang the hot air balloon lamp or use any design you like.

You can be proud of yourself! That took a lot of work to build! :) Congratulations!

Hope you like my instructable! See you soon!

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