let there be light.....

 As I have been remodeling my sweet pea's room..I wanted to continue to share some tutorials with you on a few of the crafts I have been doing along the way. Her light in her bedroom was just a simple light cover...nothing fancy and sort of plain. I wanted to make something extra fun and playful for her new light fixture and knew immediately what would look great and be fun to create. First off let me tell you that these string light fixtures were very popular in the 70's....in fact your parents might even have one stored away already ready to hang. You just need a few basic materials. 

a balloon or ball to the size you would like your pendant to be (I chose a ball since I wanted a round light fixture)

glue (I love my tried and true Modge Podge)

string (any color will do...a nice weight string....nothing too flimsy)

 This will get very messy....so I taped a big trash bag to my work surface as to not glue on the table top. There are many different ways to get your string covered in glue before winding it around the ball....I chose to just dig right in and got a handful of glue and starting covering the string as I wound it around the ball. This is the ball with one package of crochet string around it. For a stronger pendant you will want at least two packages of string to be wrapped around your ball or balloon.

 Here is the ball with two packages of string glued around it. You may want to add a bit of extra glue to any portions that look like they are not covered in glue or are more weak looking. Again...this is messy....so you very well might have glue on your shirt and a few spots on your work surface. Plus it didn't help that I had a kitty on the floor batting around the ball of string as I was trying to wind it around the ball on the table.

 Now you will need to wait 24- 48 hours for your glue to harden and dry. Now the fun begins. I originally drew a circle on the ball where I was going to leave an opening and not wrap my string on that portion...leaving an opening for the balloon to come out and also for changing the light bulb while the fixture is hanging. Well....that just wasn't in the cards for me this go around. I carefully found the deflation point on the ball and stuck an air deflator in it to deflate the ball. As the ball was shrinking I carefully cut a small hole in one end....this will be where you remove your deflated ball.

Now remove your deflated ball and you can clean up the edges where you cut to ensure a nice clean cut and even edges. I just cut the opening a bit larger than my hand...since I will also have a light bulb in my hand when I am reaching in and out of the opening. You will also need to cut a very small opening at the complete opposite end of where your larger opening is to install your light fixture hardware. Just follow the light fixture instructions to hang and install. 

And viola'.....a new light fixture that glows so pretty at night. I love how the glue from around the string gives the fixture a globe appearance. 

Here is another view at the fixture in the daytime. A simple project for a really special look. I think this would look amazing with a HUGE ball.....great for an entry way or above a kitchen or dining table.