"You, Mini-Man, takin' on the jellies. You've got serious thrill issues, dude. Awesome!"

Hemma Cord Set

The Jellyfish Lamp is probably the most intricate thing we are going to make this year (besides the airplane). I'm decorating the craft room with blue gossamer and fabric to create an underwater feel, so I wanted to make a unique light source that fits with the flow of the room. I decided upon a jellyfish because I thought it would look cool hanging from the ceiling. I used the Hemma Cord Set from Ikea as the light base. For the bulb, I chose a low temp energy saving light bulb to reduce the heat. The jellyfish shade is made out of Dura-lar. Dura-lar is a thick plastic overlay that has a pretty high heat tolerance. I chose a roll that was .007" thick. Alright, so onto the how to...

Jellyfish Lamp How To

• First, I traced a bowl to create a large circle on the Dura-lar and cut it out. I split it and rolled it into a funnel shape to make a lampshade. Then I cut the top inch off, so I could slip the lamp cord through it.

• Then I cut out petal shapes out of the Dura-lar. I made sure the petals were long enough to hang about a 1/2 inch off the clear lampshade. I used spray paint to paint the petals pink.

• Next, I superglued the petals around the lampshade. I chose superglue because it has a high heat tolerance. Every glue is different though, so check out the label on the back before you buy it. I chose Loctite Super Glue for plastics - dish washer safe. 

• After that, I cut out various shapes out of Dura-lar for its tentacles. I made some spirals, swirls, and fringes. Then I spray painted them pink as well. After they dried, I superglued them onto the clear lampshade, so they would not weigh the outer shell down. 

• After you attached all of its tentacles, you're finished! Your jellyfish is ready to swim in your Great Barrier Reef!

The Lights of Broadway

I wanted to have at least one light up sign for the Worship Rally at Times Square. Since I was planning on mixing this in with my other Broadway Posters, I decided to showcase the Big Apple logo on this sign. Before I got started, I enlarged the logo and taped it together. 

How-To

• First, I used glossy Modge Podge to glue down the logo and seal it onto a piece of foam board. I painted over everything to make the entire foam board glossy.

• Then I made holes along the sides of the board, so I could push Christmas lights through them.  I used a wood burner to make the holes, but you could use anything sharp. Make sure you measure out the space between your holes so your lights will fit.  

• Finally I pushed the lights through the holes along to board. I put masking tape on the back to secure the the cord and the lights.

Now you have your own marquee on Broadway!

Blazing Star Lamp

I wanted to make some sort of light feature for the Blazing Star Stables. I decided to make a star paper lantern. Origami has never been my forte. I don't think I have the patience for it, but I found a step-by-step guide for making a 3D star that even I could follow.

3D Paper Star - Paper Star Ornament with Template

I added a few steps to make this fit our theme:

1. I started with black cardstock, but any dark color will work
2. After I completed cutting and folding the points (but haven't glued them yet), I used spray paint to get a metallic look. I chose a brown hammered finish.
3. Once the paint had dried, I used a hole punch to make a pattern in the cardstock. I chose a small circle, but any shape or pattern will work great.
4. Next, I used a glue stick to glue a layer of tissue paper on the inside of the star-points to cover the holes that I had punched.
5. After completing step four, I followed the guide and glued my folded points together. I used hot-glue to make it stronger
6. Once each folded point is glued together, I used the guide to hot-glue all the points together. Since I wanted this to light up, I held off on sealing together the final points on the bottom of the star.
7. Now, how you light the star is up to you. I chose to use Christmas lights. I fed a stream of lights up the points and secured the wires with masking tape. Since this made out of paper and paint, it is flammable, so be careful that your star never gets too hot.

Now you have a blazing star for stables!