My Finished DIY Pendant Light ..... (Via Made By Girl)

Hope everyone had a great long Holiday weekend. OMG. Doesn't it seem to pass by so quickly??!  So, last week I posted here about my DIY random pendant for my home. It took a few days, but we finally finished it this weekend. Overall, I'm pretty HAPPY with how it turned out! However, I have to admit, the only 2 things I DIDN'T ENJOY about this project were: 

1. It was time consuming.

2. Some of the wallpaper paste we used dried between the yarn, and we had to remove as much as we could little by little with a toothbrush.

I basically sat there with a TOOTHBRUSH (after we deflated & removed the exercise ball) & brushed some of the paste off! Most of it DID come off, but if you get real close you can STILL see some of the paste. Oh well.... it'll be hanging high enough that it shouldn't be a BIG deal + for only $50 total spent, I'm not going to complain. 

(click on pic for larger images)

We actually decided to bring an ELECTRICIAN (which I recommend you do) in to make the sockets for us (we got 2 made) and he only charged us $15 each! We'll also be calling on him when we decide to hang them up. (The pendant is currently hanging in my guest bedroom so the dogs won't touch it).

If you LOOK CLOSELY, you can also see that we used a 10" piece of curtain rod (painted it white), threaded the wire through the CURTAIN ROD (giving it a cleaner appearance). We placed one canopy inside & another on top and bolted them together, giving it a sleeker look while stabilizing the bulb. 

We'll definitely be making another one, smaller than this one...but next time we're going to try using fabric stiffener & see if it still shows up when dry. Oh & by the way, the YARN WE USED was white, but with the light switched on, it appears a tan color in the photos.

INSTRUCTIONS:

How to make the ball of yarn:

• blow up a ball or balloon – an exercise ball works well (Walmart has 55cm, 65cm and 75cm if you need large ones)
• mark a 6-7 inch circle off-center (this is for your hand so you can change the bulb)
• cover the floor or working area with plastic (it will get real messy)
• wear disposable gloves (it will get messy, I mean it)
• rub a liberal amount of Vaseline all over the ball (this prevents the yarn from sticking to the surface once the glue is applied)
• put wallpaper paste into a large bowl
• unravel the ball of yarn (we used 360 yards of a medium weight cotton for a 31" ball – use more for smaller spacing) dip it into the paste & saturate it completely – you can work with small amounts to prevent the yarn from getting tangled but it is more efficient to do the whole ball of yarn
• begin wrapping the saturated yarn around the ball randomly covering as much of the open space as possible without covering the drawn circle
• once the ball is all wrapped, let it dry at least 24 hours (we placed ours on top of a cardboard box for stability)
• once dry, deflate ball carefully as much a possible.  Stick your hand through circle space with some scissors and cut it up into manageable pieces (if it is an exercise ball it will have sand in it so careful where you do it). Pull it through the circle opening (the same opening used to change the bulb) very carefully.

Electricals: Hiring a licensed Electrician is recommended on this part

You can either buy a completely made socket kit from Ikea or you can make one. (http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/60142365) but you will still need the first part below to mount it properly.  Ikea lights are only 60w so they are dim.

Parts needed to make your own:

• 3 plain canopy kits. That will serve to hold the cable in place and to mount it to the ceiling. (http://login.txlampparts.com/onlinecms/txlamp/jsp/viewdetails.jsp?ad_id=918&Sel_ID=1)
• 1 white outdoor-grade extension cord at least 1' longer than you will need.  Get one with the round cord in white. (we used a 10' one from Lowe's)
• 1 white porcelain socket with metal cap (http://login.txlampparts.com/onlinecms/txlamp/jsp/viewdetails.jsp?ad_id=1253&Sel_ID=1) - you can paint the top white if you need.  These are 100w and brighter
  
• 2+ twist on wire connectors
• Tools: wire stripper/snips
  

Make+install it:

• Cut the two ends off the cord and clip it to the proper length - remember that you need it to hang some inside the Moooi globe.
• Thread one end through a canopy, then through the top spot on the globe, then through one on the other side. 
  
• Screw mount the canopies together with the nuts on the inside of the globe.
  
• Pull the loose end through the big hole you left and use a cable stripper to pull off about 1 1/2" of the white outer housing, then strip about 1/2" off each white and black inner wire.  Mount them to the socket, being sure to properly ground it.  Close up the socket properly and drop it back into the globe.
• Turn off the power to the ceiling mount you are hanging the lamp from.  If not already there, mount the strap (the long bar) in place with the locknut.
• Test the length of the cord, leaving a few inches for the ceiling canopy.  Strip at least 4" off the ceiling end, and 3/4" off each of the black and white wires and thread them through the canopy and attach them to their matching ends with solder or properly sized twist-on wire connectors (depends on local code).
• Close up the canopy with the collar-and-locknut provided with the kit.

http://www.doityourself.com/stry/h2installafixture

Let me know what you think so far. Will you be making one for your home? 

 -images by jen ramos