Throughout my pregnancy, I had this overwhelming sense of nesting. It seemed like from the moment I found out I was expecting, I was already envisioning and planning our baby's room. I couldn't shake the image of our little adventurer, reminiscent of the movie 'Up'. That's when I knew the theme for the nursery had to be hot air balloons. I spent hours and days painting five acrylic masterpieces, each featuring a hot air balloon in its own unique way. But I didn't want to stop there; I was determined to create a hot air balloon lampshade as well, adding that extra touch of magic to our baby's sanctuary.
Process
- Using Fusion 360, I crafted a design where each piece fit together like a perfect puzzle, minimizing the need for glue. Dividing the lampshade into two parts—the balloon and the basket—added to the whimsy. To maintain the enchanting illusion of floating, I opted for fishing wire to delicately suspend the basket. I designed the hot air balloon's shape to rely mostly on gravity and a central piece for stability, while only the basket pieces needed a touch of glue to hold them together.
- We imported the 2D DXF files to Lightburn so that we can cut each of the pieces of the balloon and the basket.
- We gathered all the pieces and began assembling. First, we inserted the hot air balloon "pivot point" through the central piece, securing them in place with fishing line on the other end to keep it in place. Then, we carefully glued the basket into position.
- I then put fishing line through the holes of the basket and added a bracelet hook at the end so that we can just hook it in the right place on the hot air balloon.
- Anthony designed and 3D printed an offset lamp cage to interface the lampshade into the bulb mount as we needed the shade to be lower than the standard fit would allow. By using this method we were able to get the perfect positioning.
- I then hooked the bracelet hooks to the fishing wire that kept the hot air balloon pieces in place.
Contemplating painting the pieces, I ultimately decided against it. Perhaps it would be more special for both me and our little one to paint them together someday, creating cherished memories to be treasured.
Things to Improve on
- Find a better way to change the lightbulb. Right now, the entire lamp has to be disassembled just to replace it, which would be a hassle.
- The way the basket is hanging makes it difficult to attach properly. We need to completely redesign it to make the process simpler and more user-friendly.