how to make lighted cloud

How to Make Lighted Cloud.

There are few things as relaxing and inspiring as clouds, but you can't always go outside to look at them. Make a hanging cloud to enjoy the sight of the sky anytime you’re stuck indoors.

1. Open up a white paper lantern. If you'd like a larger cloud, hot glue one or two smaller paper lanterns to a larger one.

2. Hot glue a clump of polyester stuffing to the lantern. Pick off a large, cotton candy-sized lump of polyester stuffing. Draw a swirl of hot glue on the clump, then press the stuffing against the lantern.

3. Continue hot gluing clumps to the lantern. Alternate between large, small, and medium-sized clumps. Be sure to cover the top and bottom of the lanterns as well.

4. Fill in the gaps with smaller tufts of stuffing. This time, apply the hot glue directly onto the lantern, then quickly press the stuffing into the glue. If you glued multiple lanterns together, be sure to fill the seams between the lanterns.

5. Fluff the lantern out. Gently pull on the polyester tufts until the cloud is fluffy. Make some of the tufts larger than others. This will make your cloud look more cloud-like.

6. Add some lights. For something quick and easy, tuck a battery-operated LED light into the lantern. Alternatively, you can fill the lantern with white string lights. If you use the icicle kind, you can even pull the strands out through the bottom of the cloud to make it look like rain.

Make sure that the lights doesn't generate too much heat and never leave them unattended.

7. Tie some fishing line to the top of your cloud. Dig through the fluff until you find the top hanging wire of your lantern. Tie some fishing line to it. If you attached multiple lanterns together, be sure to tie some fishing line to each one. Cover the gap at the top of the lantern back up when you are done.

8. Hang the cloud. Insert some hooks into the ceiling. Tie small loops into the ends of your fishing line. Slip the loops over the hooks. You will need one hook per lantern. This means that if your cloud is made from three lanterns, you will need three hooks.


Things You'll Need.

White paper lantern.

Polyester stuffing.

Hot glue gun.

Hot glue sticks.

Fishing line.

Scissors.

Ceiling hooks.

Battery-operated LED lights or string lights.


Tips.

Make a few clouds if you like the outcome; a ceiling with several clouds can look really awesome.

Consider painting your paper lantern with glow-in-the-dark paint first. Your cloud will have a subtle glow.

Don't over-fluff your cloud. If you pull on the stuffing too much, it will lose its shape and fall apart.

If you do felting, you can also make a fluffy cloud by felting a ball and putting some of the excess wool around it.

Warnings.

Polyester stuffing is flammable. Do not put clouds near any heat source (lamps, ceiling lights, etc.).