HOME DECOR DIY: Hula Hoop Chandelier Light
I made this chandelier light using a hula hoop, Fairfield World OlyFun in Snow White, Adhesive Technologies hot glue and Oriental Trading Christmas lights. It's a great solution for small spaces where lighting and space is limited. Over a decade ago, my dad and I transformed a balcony area of my master bedroom into a walk in closet. I have two recessed lights which don't light the whole space. By my dresser and jewelry wall, the light is dim. I found this concept on Pinterest, which used other materials to wrap and hang the hula hoop. Being the crafty lady I am, I wanted to use materials I had on hand, aside from reaching out to Oriental Trading to supply Christmas lights and buying an extension cord. I used OlyFun, which cuts like paper, doesn't fray, is pretty durable, and works well with hot glue. Since I'm a designer for Fairfield World, I already had OlyFun on hand. This project is pretty easy to make. It's great for small spaces like bedrooms, dorm rooms, walk in closets, and hallways.
SUPPLIES:
Fairfield World, Adhesive Technologies and Oriental Trading provided me with the supplies for this project. Fairfield World paid me to create this project and tutorial. All opinions, photos, and instructions are my own. I use Amazon Affiliate links. Any purchases made using those links will result in Amazon paying me a small commision. This does not affect your purchase cost.
INSTRUCTIONS:
1) Cut Snow White OlyFun in long 1" wide strips. I used about 6-8 strips. Insert a hot glue stick into the hot glue gun. Turn the glue gun on, sit it on the silicone craft mat, and wait for the glue gun to heat up. Add a little hot glue to an inside section of the hula hoop. Press the end of a Snow White OlyFun strip into the hot glue at an angle. Wrap the strip around the hoop once and add more glue to the back. Keep wrapping the strip around the hula hoop, overlapping the edges, until you get to the strip end. Add more hot glue to the back and secure the strip end. Cut off any excess. Hot glue another strip onto the hula hoop where the previous strip ended. Continue wrapping strips around the hoop, using hot glue to secure the strips at the beginning and end. When the hot glue is cool, remove any hot glue strings.
2) Cut 12 long OlyFun strips that are 4" wide. Cut two more 1" wide long strips. Put the strips in stacks of 3. Work one set at a time. Match up three ends, bunch and hot glue them together. Apply a little hot glue to the top strip and press on an end of a 1" strip. Wrap the 1" strip around 2 times and hot glue to secure. Cut off excess. Repeat for the other 3 sets. Braid each set. Use clothespins to hold the braided ends together temporarily. Bind the loose ends together like you did to start. For each set, match up the bound ends and bind them together using a 1" strip and hot glue.
3) Loop the braided strips around the hula hoop at 4 equal points.
4) Wrap the Christmas lights around the hula hoop, securing the plug connections under the looped braids. If you feel the plugs are wiggly, you can tie them on with 1" OlyFun strips. Make sure the lights are plugging into each other, leaving the last strand's end disconnected.
5) Add the extension cord to the last strand's plug. Test the lights to make sure they are all lit.
6) It's time to install this light fixture. With the measuring tape, measure the distance between each looped braid. You can either have the hooks perpendicular or diagonal from the hula hoops. If want them perpendicular, on the ceiling mark out a square that is equal to the distance between two looped braids. If you want them diagonal, mark a smaller square on the ceiling. The marks should be easy to see dots for where the cup hooks will go.
7) Using a hammer and nail to make holes where the cup hooks will go. Remove the nail. See which wall anchors match the screws of your cup hooks. Insert a wall anchor into each hole, using the hammer to gently tap it into place. If you feel like the wall anchor isn't going in easily, remove it and use the nail (perhaps a slightly larger one) to increase the hole size. Once the wall anchors are in place, screw in the cup hooks.
8) Hang the hula hoop light up by the braids, making sure braids aren't twisted and the bound ends point towards the center. The extension cord will attach to the light fixture at one of the looped braids, so that braid should be positioned close to the wall outlet. Though if your outlet isn't close by, at least position the fixture close to a wall.
9) You will have 1 cup hook and 1 wall anchor left over. These are for running the extension cord along the ceiling. Repeat the same steps to add the 5th wall anchor and cup hook about a foot away from the light fixture, perpendicular to the looped braid that has the extension cord. Loop the extension cord up to the cup hook that's holding it's braid and across to that 5th cup hook. If the light isn't close to a wall, you might need more cup hooks to run the extension cord along the ceiling. Obviously, mine is hung in a small space. I looped the extension cord over the nearby curtain rod (the curtain separates the balcony closet from the view of the downstairs living room) and down the wall. Plug the extension cord into the nearby wall outlet. Turn on the switch. You should have an amazing ring of light. If you don't, make sure that outlet is getting power. Perhaps it has a wall switch.
SUPPLIES:
Fairfield World, Adhesive Technologies and Oriental Trading provided me with the supplies for this project. Fairfield World paid me to create this project and tutorial. All opinions, photos, and instructions are my own. I use Amazon Affiliate links. Any purchases made using those links will result in Amazon paying me a small commision. This does not affect your purchase cost.
- Plastic hula hoop - DO NOT USE A WATER HOOP - Check dollar stores and 5 Below for a regular plastic hula hoop
- Fairfield World OlyFun in Snow White
- 4 Oriental Trading white Christmas light strands
- 1 15 Foot white extension cord with on/off switch - If your wall outlet is farther away, you'll need a longer extension cord or two
- 5 Large white cup hooks
- 5 Wall anchors that fit the cup hook screws
TOOLS:
INSTRUCTIONS:
1) Cut Snow White OlyFun in long 1" wide strips. I used about 6-8 strips. Insert a hot glue stick into the hot glue gun. Turn the glue gun on, sit it on the silicone craft mat, and wait for the glue gun to heat up. Add a little hot glue to an inside section of the hula hoop. Press the end of a Snow White OlyFun strip into the hot glue at an angle. Wrap the strip around the hoop once and add more glue to the back. Keep wrapping the strip around the hula hoop, overlapping the edges, until you get to the strip end. Add more hot glue to the back and secure the strip end. Cut off any excess. Hot glue another strip onto the hula hoop where the previous strip ended. Continue wrapping strips around the hoop, using hot glue to secure the strips at the beginning and end. When the hot glue is cool, remove any hot glue strings.
2) Cut 12 long OlyFun strips that are 4" wide. Cut two more 1" wide long strips. Put the strips in stacks of 3. Work one set at a time. Match up three ends, bunch and hot glue them together. Apply a little hot glue to the top strip and press on an end of a 1" strip. Wrap the 1" strip around 2 times and hot glue to secure. Cut off excess. Repeat for the other 3 sets. Braid each set. Use clothespins to hold the braided ends together temporarily. Bind the loose ends together like you did to start. For each set, match up the bound ends and bind them together using a 1" strip and hot glue.
3) Loop the braided strips around the hula hoop at 4 equal points.
4) Wrap the Christmas lights around the hula hoop, securing the plug connections under the looped braids. If you feel the plugs are wiggly, you can tie them on with 1" OlyFun strips. Make sure the lights are plugging into each other, leaving the last strand's end disconnected.
5) Add the extension cord to the last strand's plug. Test the lights to make sure they are all lit.
6) It's time to install this light fixture. With the measuring tape, measure the distance between each looped braid. You can either have the hooks perpendicular or diagonal from the hula hoops. If want them perpendicular, on the ceiling mark out a square that is equal to the distance between two looped braids. If you want them diagonal, mark a smaller square on the ceiling. The marks should be easy to see dots for where the cup hooks will go.
7) Using a hammer and nail to make holes where the cup hooks will go. Remove the nail. See which wall anchors match the screws of your cup hooks. Insert a wall anchor into each hole, using the hammer to gently tap it into place. If you feel like the wall anchor isn't going in easily, remove it and use the nail (perhaps a slightly larger one) to increase the hole size. Once the wall anchors are in place, screw in the cup hooks.
8) Hang the hula hoop light up by the braids, making sure braids aren't twisted and the bound ends point towards the center. The extension cord will attach to the light fixture at one of the looped braids, so that braid should be positioned close to the wall outlet. Though if your outlet isn't close by, at least position the fixture close to a wall.
9) You will have 1 cup hook and 1 wall anchor left over. These are for running the extension cord along the ceiling. Repeat the same steps to add the 5th wall anchor and cup hook about a foot away from the light fixture, perpendicular to the looped braid that has the extension cord. Loop the extension cord up to the cup hook that's holding it's braid and across to that 5th cup hook. If the light isn't close to a wall, you might need more cup hooks to run the extension cord along the ceiling. Obviously, mine is hung in a small space. I looped the extension cord over the nearby curtain rod (the curtain separates the balcony closet from the view of the downstairs living room) and down the wall. Plug the extension cord into the nearby wall outlet. Turn on the switch. You should have an amazing ring of light. If you don't, make sure that outlet is getting power. Perhaps it has a wall switch.
I found my light to be right above my head. Since no one taller than me normally goes into my closet, this is ok for now. I will adjust the braid lengths later to be closer to the ceiling. The light is easy to put up and take down, as is binding the braids, so making the light closer to the ceiling won't be a difficult task. You still want about 6" of clearance between the ceiling and the light, because these lights are slightly warm. Also, these lights are not meant to stay on for long hours as a main source of light. Obviously a walk in closet needs light for short periods of time, so this was a great solution for me. I chose Snow White OlyFun, because the light strands have white coated wiring. You could use a different OlyFun color, if you don't mind the white cords showing. Whatever you're making, have fun with it. Happy Makery!
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