#tryDIY: Create a string pendant lamp

Add some style to your outdoor entertainment area with this string pendant lamp. Using materials from around the house, you can create your own by following our step-by-step guide below or watch our video:

To start, you'll need to have the following materials:

• A bucket or large bowl
• PVA glue
• Ball of string
• Balloons
• Twinkle/fairy lights
• Scissors

Step one: Prepare your materials

To start off you will need to first empty a generous amount of PVA glue into your bucket or bowl, ensuring there is enough to be able to submerge the string.

You'll also need to blow up your balloon to the size you want your lamp to be.

Unwind roughly 30 centimetres of your string and place it into the glue.

Step two: Time to get messy

Now that your materials are all set up, use your hands to start winding the string around the balloon.

Use a generous amount of string to make the lamp more sturdy - take a look at the picture below to see how we wound it:

Step three: Pop!

Once you have made your lamp (or lamps if you decided to make two like us) let them dry. You will know when they are dry when the string has hardened around the balloon.

Once you are confident that your lamp is sturdy and dry, grab a pin or any other sharp object and pop the balloon. Now carefully pull out the deflated balloon through the gaps in the strings - don't pull it too hard or you might ruin your lamp.

If the shape of your lamp changes as the balloon deflates, gently pull the strings back into place.

Step four: Light it up

You have now completed your lamp shade - good work! Now it's time to bring it to life.

Unwind your twinkle/fairy lights and carefully weave them through the gaps in the string. You could either wind one set of lights through multiple lamp shades to tie them together or use one strand for each lamp shade.

Congratulations, you have just made your own string pendant lamp! We'd love to see how yours came out - flick us a message on Facebook with pictures of your string pendant lamp or post it on social media using the hashtag #tryDIY.