Homemade paper lamps - the choice of material and design

The article will tell you how to make a paper lamp with your own hands. Step-by-step instructions are given for making many types of paper lamps, even the most original ones. As an addition - useful recommendations on how not to make mistakes in working with paper.

Pros of paper crafts

The main reason for installing a paper lamp is the same as for other types of lamps - personal preference. The following advantages speak in favor of this not the most obvious choice:

1. Originality. Firstly, this is a stylish and unusual solution.
2. The paper softens the light. It turns out diffused unobtrusive lighting that does not hit the eyes and does not tire, creating a light relaxed atmosphere.
3. A huge field for design options - there are dozens of them.
4. Low cost of consumables. In fact, you only need to spend money on paper, the rest depends on your hands.
5. A paper lamp can be both the main lighting of the room and part of the additional lighting.
6. On the walls they can be hung as a sconce.

Chandelier options

Rice or parchment paper

You can use rice paper for cooking.

To make such a lamp, you need to take an old unnecessary lampshade or buy a new one and remove the cover from it. Further technology is as follows:

1. Rice or parchment paper cut into rectangles of the same size.
2. Smooth them out with an iron.
3. Then fold each of the rectangles like an accordion, and cut out as many circles as possible.
4. All of them should be connected by stringing them on a thread through a hole in the center.
5. Entangle the lampshade in a circle along the entire height with this “necklace”.

Origami

To make an origami-style paper lamp, you need to master this technique at least at a basic level. You will need 2 paper bags, preferably with a pattern. They need to cut off the bottom and handles, then glue them together. The resulting large package is folded in half, and each part is made into an accordion of 16 strips.

The extreme strips need to be folded diagonally, then make a hole with an awl, and fix one side with a thread. The other side will remain open. A thread is brought to the cartridge for hanging on the frame. Only LED lamps are suitable for an origami lamp.

Beautiful origami paper lamp.

Corrugated paper (crepe)

Thanks to the original look of the material, corrugated paper (or crepe) lamps have so many fans.For manufacturing, you must first carefully mark the paper with lines of the same width, then make an accordion along these lines. Then the order is:

1. Take a knitting needle and fold the accordion diagonally from one end.
2. Return the accordion to its original position and fold the other end in the same way.
3. Make folds on corrugated paper so that diamonds are obtained.
4. At the end, twist the composition into a ball, fasten the top with a solid thread.

paper butterflies

There are two types of such crafts: with one large butterfly or with a whole flock of small ones. The second option will be more original, because dozens of paper winged insects will hang under the chandelier. You need a base - the frame of an old lampshade or any metal or wooden rim. You will also need sheets with ready-made butterfly patterns or your own blanks. It is advised to make 5-10 different sizes.

Only well-sharpened scissors and high-density paper are suitable for cutting. Each butterfly is securely fixed on a thread and attached to the base. They can be painted in different colors if desired.

Wax paper lamp

Here the scheme is:

1. Take several layers of wax paper.
2. Iron them with an iron on low heat.
3. Fold along straight lines into an accordion.
4. Squeeze the accordion, and use a round hole punch to cut out the same circles.
5. String circles on threads. The threads will hang down, so do not make them too long.
6. Fix the threads on the frame of the lampshade. You will get a lamp that looks like a large jellyfish.

As if a huge jellyfish froze above the room.

Chandelier in the form of a ball

Cut out circles from square paper sheets. Then they are all connected, and the edges are raised to make a flower.Instead of circles, there may be squares that need to be turned into cones. Finished compositions are fixed on a lamp in the form of a Chinese ball.

Chinese lanterns

Beautiful Chinese lanterns.

This is one of the most popular types of paper lamp design. To make it, you will need ordinary, or better rice paper, a lamp holder, as well as the light bulb itself. To keep the paper from overheating, you should prefer an LED lamp.

The manufacturing algorithm is as follows:

1. Mark the paper so that it folds like an accordion in certain places. Marking with small rhombuses will help with this.
2. Bend the paper exactly along the marking lines.
3. Screw the light bulb into the socket.
4. In the lower part of the cartridge, make a hole with an awl and drag a thread through it, preferably from a satin ribbon.
5. Fasten the thread to a fixed frame.
6. Wrap a paper lampshade over the cartridge, glue the edges or overlap it.

Idea. To make the resulting lantern truly "Chinese", you can paint the lampshade with authentic Asian patterns, hieroglyphs.

Video lesson: How to make a Lumi lamp.

Japanese lantern

The basis of the lamp "under Japan" will be rice paper and bamboo sticks for fastening. Step-by-step instruction:

1. Clean the sticks with sandpaper, cut to the desired height (by “necessary” we mean the height of the entire lamp).
2. Mark the glue points on the sticks.
3. Glue all the rails into one square or round design. Corners for reliability can be fixed with a strong thread.
4. The cover is an MDF sheet. It is necessary to make a hole for the cartridge in it.
5. To keep the "life" of the tree longer and protect it from insects, the slats must be treated with stain.
6. Glue paper sheets to the frame.Previously, to give a Japanese flavor, they can be decorated with patterns or hieroglyphs.

If the Japanese lamp is constructed correctly, it will last a long time.

A more advanced version of the Japanese-style lamp.

Lamp in the style of minimalism

For a room in the style of minimalism, a paper chandelier with a ceiling without any frills is suitable. Square or round shape - unprincipled. There should be no inscriptions, drawings, other decor. It is desirable that it be an ordinary white ceiling.

Read also

Modern chandeliers and ceiling lights in the interior

 

Luminaire options

tubules

One of the most original, non-standard solutions for room design. A lampshade made of paper tubes will give a soft romantic light. Such a lampshade looks on any lamp: a chandelier, floor lamp, bra. The tubes can be twisted both from white or colored paper, and from ordinary newspapers, but one thing must be remembered.

The type and color of the tubes of the lampshade should organically complement the design of the room, but not conflict with it.

The minimum number of tubes is one hundred. For a large lamp, you may need to make them larger. The tubes are glued together with glue in the desired shape - round, square, oval, etc. Closer to the center, the structure should expand, and as it moves away from the center, it should narrow.

From the video you will learn how to make a simple table lamp from tubes.

By the New Year

To add a New Year's mood to the interior, you can string row after row of thread on which snowflakes are attached to the old lampshade, or hang a lot of vertical threads. There are hundreds of options for paper snowflakes.

Snowflakes add a festive mood.

Cardboard polyhedron

Stylish lamp with 12 edges.

A chandelier made of cardboard in the form of a dodecahedron looks very original. It is done like this:

1. Draw 11 identical pentagons on cardboard. It is better to use one stencil.
2. Inside each pentagon, draw 5 more at the same distance from each other.
3. Carefully cut out these 5 shapes.
4. Glue them to each other so that each corner of one figure falls into the middle of the side of the other. It will look like a star.
5. Further, all 11 of these "stars" are glued together with PVA glue, and the beautiful dodecahedron is ready.
6. For the bottom face and base of the cartridge, 5 pentagons must be glued with one side to each other.

In this video tutorial, we will learn how to build a regular polyhedron using a ruler and a compass.

moon lamp

Lamp-moon.

Now about how to make a do-it-yourself lamp made of paper in the form of a moon:

1. Blow up a balloon.
2. Draw a circle around the node with a marker.
3. Dip the ball completely into the glue and water mixture.
4. Apply a lot of paper towels to the ball with a brush, let dry.
5. Apply a few more layers of towels.
6. When the ball dries, it is necessary to paint the paper with acrylic paint of a delicate light shade (beige, cream, ivory).
7. With a large-pored sponge, apply ocher paint over the entire surface. It is necessary to apply different pressure to get darker and lighter areas.
8. Carefully cut the paper along the circle circled with a marker, and remove the ball through it with tweezers.
9. Place a cartridge inside or hang the "moon" like a lampshade.

Master class: homemade night light Moon.

Bright lanterns from paper circles

Very popular now are kitchen lanterns with a lampshade made of paper disks of bright colors - orange, yellow, light green.To do this, discs of the same diameter are cut out of colored paper with a round hole punch. Then, these disks are carefully glued to the Chinese ball suspended on the frame from the bottom to the top with the help of PVA. It looks like the scales of an exotic fish.

"Scaly" lampshades.

Don't forget about the kids

The smallest inhabitants of the house will be pleased with the original paper lamps based on their favorite characters from fairy tales and cartoons, animals, flowers. To do this, you need corrugated paper or papier-mâché. The basis of the character will be a wire frame. It is pasted over with several layers of paper, then it is painted to give the delicate doll or the brave superhero familiar features.

Useful video: 17 magical homemade lamps.

Recommendations

In conclusion, some useful tips that will help you avoid making mistakes during the manufacture of a paper lamp, as well as “prolong the life” of the lantern:

1. The main thing in paper is thickness. Too thin will be fragile, thick will absorb a lot of light.
2. All markings should be done as accurately as possible, to the millimeter.
3. It is necessary to cut the compositions very carefully, according to clear patterns.
4. Glue should not be much for each element.
5. Try not to use other lamps than LED. So the paper is guaranteed not to catch fire.

No need to limit yourself to fantasy. Paper gives a huge field for the realization of bright ideas.