Lampshade of Yarn

I’ve seen variations of this idea throughout the blogosphere, such as this Sisal Pendant Light or bowl, and thought it would be a fun activity with K. All you need is a balloon, flour, water, scissors, and yarn. And anything you need to protect whatever surface you’re working on.

Basically, you are making Paper Mache out of yarn. This is a great activity with little ones.

• Blow up your balloon and hit it around the room.
• Cut out lots of string. This is great practice for kids and it doesn’t matter how long the string is!

• Make a glue with about equal parts of flour and water. I usually add a little bit more water.
• Dip the yarn into the glue and spread half-hazardly (naturally for the best effect!) all over the balloon, which is balanced in a bowl.

The yarn can be made into a bowl by just covering the bottom half, or cover the entire balloon for a fun “ball” of yarn. If you do the second choice, and little ones are helping, draw a circle at the top of the balloon where yarn won’t go so you can pull the balloon out. Our balloon took several days because we only covered half of the balloon at a time, which is why K is wearing several different shirts in this post :)

• Allow the yarn to dry. It will become stiff and hold the shape of the balloon very well; for us it took over night. Poke a small hole in the balloon and allow the air to slowly leak out while gently pressing the balloon away from the yarn. Pull the balloon out, and voila!

If you like your ball of yarn enough, you can proudly display it in creative ways such as a lampshade!

It has this cool, modern effect, don’t you think?
PS Does anyone have a cooler name for this thing? My creativity went as far as making it and is now kaput.