When I did the €75 Boys' Bedroom for my friend's two little toddlers, I wanted a child-friendly lightshade that would also be budget-friendly. The cheapest lightshade I could find was a rice paper globe so, with transportation as the theme of the boys' bedroom, I came up with the idea of turning that into a hot air balloon with a little teddy bear passenger.
It is so easy and so cheap to make, so I really encourage you to try this fun project!
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Materials
- Rice paper globe pendant
- Basket
- Baker's Twine
- Large-eyed needle e.g. wool needle
- Teddy bear
- Acrylic paint
- Paintbrush
- Measuring tape
- Safety pins
- Glue
The light I used was the Regolit from Ikea, but B&Q sell a similar one called Shikoku. My local discount store even had a version, so you shouldn't have any problem finding one.
The basket was part of the Ljusnan bathroom accessories set from Ikea. They retail for €3.90, but I already had one I wasn't using so it didn't cost me anything. Really any small basket you can find will do nicely.
The shade cost me €2.50 and the Fabler Bjorn teddy bear was €1.20, both from Ikea. The baker's twine was €2 in The Range. Everything else I already had, but all of the materials used are inexpensive, making this a very affordable project as well as an easy one.
Step-by-Step
I started by painting the lightshade using acrylic paint. I chose red as this was the accent colour for the bedroom - and also because I had some leftover from the toybox project that you can see in the original post and details of which I'll be sharing next week.
The paper shade was constructed in segments, so I used the dividing lines as my guide and coloured the alternating sections, leaving the remaining ones white.
Once the paint had dried, I cut a piece of string long enough to go around the narrower part of the shade above the centre (above the "equator", if you will). If you're using the Regolit from Ikea, 112cm is an ideal length for this string. Tie the ends of the string together and drop the loop over the top of the lampshade.
Make sure the string runs horizontally around the lightshade. This loop will support the strings holding the basket.
Tie another string onto the loop you already placed around the globe. Measure along this string to where you want the top of the basket to be (allowing headroom for teddy!) and tie a knot as a guide. For the Regolit lightshade with the Fabler Bjorn teddy bear, 56cm is a good length to aim for here.
A tip is to tie the knot on the string around the needle so that you can slide the needle up and down the string to get the length exactly right. You don't want the basket to be lopsided in case teddy falls out! When you are sure the knot is at the desired length, you can remove the needle and carefully tighten the knot.
Repeat this process three more times so that you have a total of four strings hanging from the loop. These four strings will be used to attach the basket.
If you are using a round basket like I did, you will want to be sure to tie the strings at even distances around the top of the basket. The easiest way I found to do this was to imagine a square sitting on top of the circle and then make sure each side was the same size. Use the safety pins to temporarily mark each corner of the imaginary square. If you have a square basket, you can just attach one string to each corner.
Each of our four knotted strings will attach to the basket at these points. To do this, thread the loose end of the string through the wool needle and use it to pull the string through the basket. Stop when the knot reaches the basket. This ensures that each string will be the desired length.
Tie the string over the top edge of the basket. Then use the wool needle to hide the loose end by threading it through the basket weave.
If you can't thread through the weave of your basket, then you could use a dab of glue inside the basket to secure the loose ends of the string.
Now it's time for teddy to come aboard. Unfortunately, my teddy was a bit floppy - weak at the knees at the thought of flying in a hot air balloon - so I had to steady him a bit! I just used a couple of safety pins to secure the teddy against the side of the basket and to make sure that he stood up straight.
Finally, as a precaution agains any of the knots coming undone, I secured them with a dab of glue. I didn't want to glue the strings onto the shade, so I propped them up off the surface with whatever I had to hand; in this case a reel of thread! Then I used a toothpick to apply the glue to the knot and waited until the glue was fully dried before removing the props.
Glueing the knots also allowed me to trim the loose ends very closely, making it look neater.
And that's it! Paint the globe, tie a loop around it, attach four strings between the loop and the basket, and then pop in a teddy. It's really super-simple and, if I may say so, super-cute.
As always I ask if you try this project, please send me a photo or tag me in a photo on social media. I always love to see how you implement ideas from the blog.
Related Posts:
Budget Decor: €75 Boys' Bedroom
Top Tips for Decorating on a Budget
