Thursday, October 2, 2014
DIY Legend of Zelda Lamp
Last semester, or two semesters ago, honestly I can't remember, I had received an assignment in one of my classes to use recycled materials into something new. I chose glass and actually was in a Legend of Zelda obsession at the time. I decided I was going to turn a big glass pickle jar into an awesome Zelda lamp! It actually got voted the most creative and made it in the top three recycled creations. You can use these materials to do any kind of design too.
Things you will need:
1. Jar
You can choose any jar. I just chose a large one
2. Glass Paint
You can pick this up at Hobby Lobby for about 3 bucks. Click the link for the actual product
3. Liquid Glass Leading
4. Design
I searched around for all kinds of designs to use, but in the end I made my own based on the Hyrulian shield Link uses. I found my color scheme and drew my design up on paper.
5. Paint Brushes
Any paint brushes will do. Even the cheap ones. I found the smaller ones were a lot easier to use for better detail
6. Strand of Christmas Lights
I used plain white lights that I had laying around the house. They give the fairy in the bottle effect which is really well known in the Zelda world.
7. Time
The more time you take to think of your design the better it will turn out. The paint also looks really good with a few coats.
What to do:
-First you want to make sure that the jar is really clean, go to the recycling center/flea markets/garage sales you can find all kinds of jars.
-Draw up your design. You can make it as simple or as complex as you want. I found that drawing the design with sharpie on the reverse side of the design on transfer paper/parchment paper made it easier to trace on the actual bottle with the liquid leading.
-Trace your design with the liquid leading. The liquid leading gives the bottle that stained glass effect. The separation of pieces. A lot of people thought that I had actually broken the bottle and pieced it back together. (I definitely found a much easier and faster process with the liquid leading)
- Paint in the design. The paint is a little weird at first when starting out. It comes on kind of pastel looking but will dry to a clear stained glass look. The more coats of paint the darker the hue of the paint will be
-Take your time! The more time you take the better your design and composition of the whole piece will be. It also takes time to dry!
- Make sure your Christmas lights work and then place them inside the jar. It gave mine the fairy in the bottle look that is ever so popular in the Zelda world. Then plug it in and watch the wonders of Zelda come alive!
-There you have it! One awesome geeky lamp for all your geeky needs. I found that it makes more of a really cool decorative lamp than anything!!
Hey Zelda Fanatics Share your awesome DIY Zelda crafts!!!
