Flamingo Lamp

Create some mood lighting with this novelty flamingo lamp!

I had a floor lamp that I never used and that ended up being the base for this project.

Here is a complete list of supplies you'll need:

Pink flamingo

Utility knife

Pink spray paint

Aluminum can

Small flexible LED lamp (IKEA's Jansjo works well)

Tin snips

E6000 adhesive

Spring clamps

Hacksaw

Sandpaper

Red zipties

Tree Branch the same width as your floor lamp pole

Pink smoothie straw

Scissors

Pink paint

Masking tape

This plastic was thicker than I thought. Firm pressure from a utility knife will cut it but GO SLOW and BE CAREFUL!!!!!!

You will need to cut a hole in the bottom of the flamingo where the lamp post pole will go.

This should be located where his normal feet would have been placed.

Split the beak where the ridge is already, using a utility knife. You should also slice just a little down from the edge of the mouth to let the beak open wider.

You will need to split the underside of the flamingo from the tip of his beak down to the hole you made for the pole then down to the access hole you made. You will also need some kind of access hole for wiring to come through.

In order for the lamp to fit in to the head of this flamingo you will need to decapitate him. Yes, that's right.

You will be inserting a cut piece of aluminum from the aluminum can. This will be inserted into the upper side and the underside of the beak for a reflective surface. Starting with the upper beak, Use E6000 adhesive and a spring clamp to hold the aluminum piece in place.

Removing the head lets the LED lamp fit better and lets you position the light as needed.

Disassemble your floor lamp. There should be a series of rods that screw together. Unscrew a section and cut the electrical cord. Slide out both ends of the electrical cord. You only need the base and the pole.

Find the height you want your new lamp to be. Use a hacksaw to cut it to that length. Remember the top of the pole will go all the way through the flamingo and be supporting from the inner top portion.

Find a branch in your yard that is about the same width as the pole. Mask off the base and spray paint the pole pink. Paint the branch the same color. Let dry.

Zip tie both the branch and pole together.

Use pink or red zip ties to create feet for the flamingo.

This part is the hardest...

Set aside the base from your ikea lamp. You just need the flexible neck and the light portion.

Basically you need to start with prying open the split along the neck and wedging in the long neck of the lamp.

I thought I might be able to just push the led lamp part all the way through the neck but it was too wide. The (poorly drawn) illustration shows how the lamp just gets pushed through the underside. It's not the cleanest way but it works.

Now you will need to glue the splits from the head and neck and belly.

You can glue one section at a time with E6000 and hold in place until set or firmly wrap masking tape around the section you need to set.

For the head you now need to place it around the head of the lamp. You will need to glue the sections of the bottom beak together and place in another piece of aluminum as before. Use masking tape or a clamp to hold this together as it sets.

You will have a white portion of the neck still exposed.

To cover, I cut a slit down a thick pink smoothie straw and cut out rings. Place a few rings over the white neck. Paint the exposed lamp head piece with pink acrylic paint.

This lamp is meant to be used indoors only. Connect your cord to your power adapter plug in. Plug in your adapter. Flip the switch on.

It will not give off a lot of light ( like for reading) but it does give off enough to make a mood light or a night light for a bed room or a luau party light!

Only use a cool LED light for this project. Other bulbs would probably get too hot.

The body and the head should swing freely but not be too loose. Just make sure not to spin the body so much the cord gets wrapped around the legs.