Festive Lace Hanging Light DIY
This DIY hanging lamp is so simple a child could make it – and have fun in the process, too. And the result? A shining example of how light and shadow can work together to brighten up a room.
Shadows from a DIY doily lamp
Make your Own DIY Hanging Lamp
Swedish craftswoman Isabelle Dos offers a fun doily lamp tutorial that takes just a few minutes (and a night or so of drying) to complete. She started with a simple party-shop balloon, blown up big and wrapped in white lace place settings painted with wallpaper glue.  The soaked material sticks readily to the sides of the inflated sphere, overlapping to form a contiguous shell, suspended and left to dry overnight like a plaster cast.
Simple Beautiful Doily Lamp


Pop the balloon and presto: a little cut in the top lets you drop in a bare bulb and create your own chandelier, potentially using whatever pattern you want (if lace feels a little too old-fashioned) to frame the outside and filter the light. To get the bulb into the lamp, Dos says she simply tears a little hole at the top and then closes it back up. You can either glue or sew it into place.
“I used a larger, round balloon,” she explains. “In Sweden party stores and some toy stores carries them. The a round and more important a little bit thicker! I mean there is a big difference between balloons and ballons – every kids party has told me that. So make sure you find a hard strong balloon! Some has used a beach ball but I think it’s too stiff and also hard to get out of the doily ball.”
“Picking doilies. I used not very thick but also not the finest of treads. When the doilies had to many “holes” in the lace it was harder to get it  stiff. And the overlapping part is important. It makes the whole unit stronger.”
While Dos created this DIY doily lamp to create a more festive atmosphere in her dark, wintery home around Christmas time, it would look beautiful year-round.