Rainbow IQ Puzzle Laminated Paper Lamp

A while ago I was perusing Instructables and found one for creating an IQ style "puzzle" lamp and thought that it looked pretty neat. The author of that one (Dan https://www.instructables.com/id/Universal-lamp-sh...) noted that someone commented that maybe using tissue paper and laminating it might work. I haven't seen anyone else do that so I thought I'd give it a try. It took some time to work out some details and get it right but I've assembled several of these now with a lot of success. The great thing about using tissue paper is that you can make it whatever color(s) you want. I've even made a large sphere hooked up to a volume sensor in my classroom that lights up if the kids get too loud.

This design creates more of a tube than a sphere and has a pretty neat look to it. By adding more rows to it someone could even make it go from floor to ceiling!

For this project you will need the following:

1) A laminator and laminator sheets - I used 14 sheets total of 5 mil thickness.

2) Paper Cutter and Software - I have a Cricut Expression 2 that a coworker gave to me. I use "Make The Cut" software to run it.

3) Light source - these are basically plastic and will melt easily so use caution here. I used a battery powered string of LED lights so I wouldn't have to worry about the heat

4) Tissue paper for gift wrapping. I got a selection at Michael's but it can be found at many locations. For this project I used the 7 colors for a Rainbow. Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, and Violet. Some was in a variety pack and others individual colors in a package. You will need enough for the 14 sheets of laminator sheets.

5) Patience

This is pretty straight forward assuming you have a laminator. Follow the instructions for your particular machine and laminate 2 full size sheets of each color. If you're going to use a different color pattern make sure to do 14 total sheets.

I found it easiest to let the tissue hang out of the laminator sheets and after running it through just tear it off the edges. Flatten out the tissue in the laminator pouch as best as possible but small ripples come right out of it when it goes through the machine.

Cut the pieces out with your Cricut. I have attached a file for you to use with Make the Cut. Otherwise you can use the image of the piece to import into your favorite software, or you can print it to use as a template and cut them by hand. I sized it to cut 6 pieces out of each laminated sheet.

Once they were all cut out I ran them all through the laminator again just to make sure that any little pulls from the Cricut machine were resealed. This worked great and made the pieces all very smooth along the edges.

When you're finished you should have 70 pieces for the lamp and if you cut out 6 pieces per sheet you will have 14 extra pieces, which may come in handy if any tear during the construction.

This lamp is made of 14 rows, each row containing 5 pieces. Lay out the pieces in the order shown in the picture. Arrange the colors however you like. I was originally going to make the top two rows Red, the next two Orange, and so on. In the end I decided to have the colors spiral down the fixture like a barber shop pole.

The pieces change direction depending on the row and the best way to tell which way is by studying the pictures. If you lay out the pieces carefully following the photo then linking the pieces together will go smoothly.

With the pieces positioned like in the photo, link the top right corner of each piece with the top right corner of all the other pieces. It may take a minute or two to get them linked but when it's finished it will like the second picture when viewed from above. During the entire construction only one row will be finished at a time and it's best not to move on to a row until the current one is completed.

Once the five pieces from row 1 are linked add the pieces from row 2 as shown.

These two rows are the most difficult. It will seem like something's not right and the pieces will want to pop apart. That's because the tension is a little awkward and it's not until row 4 is linked in that it begins to hold shape all by itself. If pieces keep popping apart at the outer edges it's to be expected and don't try to force it.

Here it's important to just be methodical as you complete each row. It begins to go quickly and you can really see what it's going to look like.

Pay attention to how the last two rows are positioned. The pieces will initially resist falling into place but with the patience that you might still have left it will work. You're now finished with the hardest part!!!

Now if you wanted to you could run a string into it to hang in a window, or from the rear view mirror of your car (it might be a little large for that), or you can install a light.

I removed a single piece from one end and dangled the string of LED light into it. Once I put the string in I just reinstalled the piece and it pinched the wire enough to hold it in place. The battery pack of the light have a small hook on it that I used to hang it from the ceiling and it holds it up great. The lights have multiple functions that have great effects.

I attached a couple pics of spheres that I've made with the same process and shapes, but linking them together differently to create a different shape. Have fun with this. If you make one please post pics for everyone to see. I'd love to see the different colors or patterns that people come up with.

I found some tissue paper at Michael's that has the colors of the rainbow in stripes and thought I would try using this also. To add an extra challenge I wanted to see if I could get all the stripes lined up with each other once the lamp was finished. I laid the paper in angles when laminating them so they would get cut as needed. You can see in the fourth picture how they are lined up and ready to assemble. Once put together and lit up the lines are pretty close to running with each other. It really shows when it's lit up. If you make one please post pictures or share your ideas. Thanks!