February 9, 2011

My Moooi light!

This is the final result of my Moooi lamp. I am very happy with it and it was nice to be able to give a handmade present for Christmas.

 To make your own Moooi "random" light you will need:
- A ball (I used a 55cm in diameter yoga ball) - yoga ball, beach ball, kids plastic ball, depending on how big you want it.
- 400 m of string. You can use both plastic string and paper string or even cotton yarn. Usually a ball of string is about 50 or 100m.
- Wall paper paste (I used 35g of powder that you mix with water for each ball). You can also buy ready made paste.
- Light bulb (look for a biiig one) either clear or not.
- Electric cable. At Bolagret you can find really funky colourful "rope cables" that look real nice!

Time required:

The first step will take you 2-3 hours and then consider 24 hours for the glue to completely dry.


Cost:
Ball:  2 - 12 euro (depending on what type you use)
String: 1 euro / ball of string = 4 euros.
Wallpaper paste: 3 euros
Big light bulb: 4 euros 
Electricity cable: 7 euros
Total cost: max 30 euros for first lamp shade and 18 euros for the next ones.
(The original Moooi Random light costs at least 450 euros and copies can be found from 80 euros)


The yoga ball I bought cost 12 euro but obviously I can use it again, so I hardly see this as a cost. And obviously if one plans to make many, you already have a ball that you can use.

Start by winding the string around the ball a few times (8-10 times) and then tie it together. Cut the string and start again. It doesn't matter if it always finishes at the same point. The easiest way to go is with the first ball of string to keep the same center point and go around and around.

With the next balls of string start in different points, always tying it to a previous string in order for it not to slip. Don't worry too much is a string becomes loose. You can cover it with a few layers of string and also the glue will make it firm in the end.


This is the ball after about 2-3 balls of string has been wound on.
You will need about 400m of string to cover a ball with a 55cm diameter. Make sure you leave an area without any string so that you can take the ball out. It only needs to be about 10-15cm large.

These are the two lamp shades that we made. A white and a blue.
We put a bit some plastic on the floor in order to avoid getting wallpaper paste on the floor. Then we just slabbed it on not being all too careful. Just make sure you turn the ball a few times while it's setting in order to avoid that the part sitting on the floor remains gooey and soft.

And this is the result!
Lovely shadows!
My lovely Moooi random copy!

14 comments:

  1. mooi in olandese significa bello/a ;)
    complimenti
    #alida#

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  2. :) like a drunk hillbilly and hirosima unicorn child

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  3. VAd använde du för typ av tråd samt hur fick du ut yogabollen efteråt?

    Kanonbra guide för jag ska göra en själv nämnligen.. :)

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  4. Hej Cornelia!

    Om du tittar på sista bilden medans bollen fortfarande är i, så ser du hålet som jag lämnade för att få ut bollen. Det var faktiskt ganska lätt att få ut den så när jag hade tagit ur luften! Hålet är ca stor som en hand?!
    Tråden jag hittade var av plast. Jag hittade i en vanlig presentbutik och de kostade 10kr/rulle på 100m (400m behövdes totalt). Egentligen letade jag efter papptråd, men det går bra vilken som! Lycka tilL!

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  5. How to do you change the lightbulb?

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  6. Hi Anonymous. I only saw your entry now. Anyway, to answer your question. A hole is left in the top which is used both to extract the ball and to change the lightbulb!

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  7. how long does this take to make? I'd rather pay the money than have a wonky light shade that took hours to make!

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    Replies
    1. Well, it does take quite a while (2-3h + waiting time for it to dry), so if that's how you feel, you might as well buy one. I prefer to have things that I make myself.

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  8. but the shape it's not round!

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  9. Perhaps because I didn't have a place to hang the ball up when it was drying, and placed it on the floor. The part touching the floor became flatter.

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  10. They also say that we can use corn starch.. I can't find it anywhere any other substitute?

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    Replies
    1. Hi! Well, I used wallpaper glue. Corn Starch can be bought in supermarkets. It's usually in the baking isle or with flour. You could also use ordinary paper glue with a bit of water. I'd use 1/3 water 2/3 glue. Paper glue becomes transparent when dry, so I think it could be a good choice.

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