Friday, January 14, 2011

Turn On Your Heart Light

Ooh, you guys, I have so many crafty things I want to do, and no time to do them! So instead, I'll just show you three of my recent favorites, so you can all drool and dream with me.

First, a fun modern heart light:

Check out the tutorial here at Paper, Plate, and Plane. (Found via Craft)

This was made with simple foam core and a strand of clearance LED string lights. What I really love, though, are all the possibilities: Pac-Man and ghosts art, anyone? Or old-school Space Invaders? Mmm, so many geeky options...


Next, a simple but stunning lamp mod:

Tutorial here at Poopscape Projects

This is a $7 lamp from Ikea, so again, a super cheap project. Plus, who doesn't have old negatives lying around? (Just don't destroy anything important!)


And finally, Allison of Mod Mischief made this fantastic Valentine's gift for her hubby:


It doesn't actually light up, but seriously, how cool is this?

More pics on Instructibles, but not too much by way of actual instructions: Allison writes that she cobbled this together from an old thermos top, a mason jar lid, and other odds and ends. Again, there are a lot of options, though: just start with a wire heart inside an old light bulb, and then have fun customizing the base from there! You could add gears to ramp up the steampunk look even further, or put the bulb on a sleek painted cube for a more modern look, or...?


So, guys, see anything you want to try? Personally I plan to make them all, it's just a matter of figuring out in what order! The next CW book is due in just four weeks, though, plus John and I are finishing up on the largest house renovation we've ever done, so things are a bit hectic over here. We'll just have to see how much craft time I can squeeze in between now and Valentines. :)

In the mean time, if you
do try one of these projects, be sure to send me pictures!

18 comments:

  1. I'm loving the negative lamp... and I think I have one of those. Hmmmm.

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  2. Thank you sooo much for this! I've been organizing all my family's photos from about 5 generations back (yeah, you don't even want to *see* by dining room), and I've got piles and piles of negatives. Didn't really want to throw them out, and so have been saving them for some kind of craft. Finally I have a reason behind my madness!

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  3. I think you should do the heart light in the shape of your EPBOT robot. Just sayin'...

    I imagine I'll try the heart light one only something Tim Burton-esque for my eventual Tim Burton-esque office!

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  4. PacMan and ghosts lights with the blinking option for extra fun. We already have Christmas lights strung around foil-covered cardboard letters for wall decor for the kids, and this is another cool option for friends with initials like B. Ours are L and M, so they were easy to wrap.

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  5. I have two of those lamps... and just found a box of negatives the other day! After scanning the negatives into the computer, I'll have to get out the Modge Podge and make these. Too cute!

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  6. The lamp made with negatives is really neat! It would be so awesome to make that lamp with negatives from trips to Disney World!

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  7. Oooh, I like the lamp idea! I have this lamp with a great cut-glass base that I scored for free when my great-aunt moved out of her house, but I want a new lampshade for it. I don't know if the negative idea would work, but it's a thought...now I'm thinking about lampshade hanging again. ;)

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  8. Did you find those all on Ironcraft? I keep meaning to join up for that and then I get lazy. Ah well.

    PS Paper plate and plane's Army Man Draft Dodger is awesome too. http://paperplateandplane.wordpress.com/?s=draft+dodger

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  9. Oh wow, those are stunning! That last one is just so sweet, I love it!

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  10. Um, I am totally going to do the second one... that's pretty much the most cool, awesome, easy and cheap thing I've ever seen.

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  11. I'm not sure I can forgive you for getting Neil Diamond stuck in my head.

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  12. The next CW book? Wowzers! You just made my day.

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  13. tiny purple elephantJanuary 15, 2011 at 2:06 PM

    A 2nd book. Does that mean a 2nd tour? Are you coming to Toronto, Canada?

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  14. SADNESS! I finally threw out tons and tons of old negatives after thinking I would use them for a craft project but never found anything.

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  15. You could make the heart filament lamp light up too! Just put a low wattage/small light bulb in the base with the wire coming out back. When you turn it one, the light would spill up from the base, not the filament, but it WOULD highlight the really neat design!

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  16. thank you for sharing these inspirations. the first one caught me instantly and luckly i had a string of white LED lights laying around. SO i started crafting and the result was a cardboard-box, spray-painted in black, with a geeky 8-bitish <3 out of white LEDs. unfortunatly i don't have a camera handy to take pics for showing. but i hope to get them soon, before i'll give this little craft gem away. :)

    greetings from germany and keep up the geekiness!

    Mona

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  17. I'm totally gonna do the lightbulb thing. I should use what I have around the house, but I might have to go hunting the prettiest bulb I can find...

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