ardee's creation

Hi everyone!

Few weeks ago I’ve decided to make a present for my sister’s birthday,though I’m not sure at that time what should I make for her. So I browse around in the net and found this image:

(Photo Credit : www.dinosaurlifestyle.com)

I’m not really sure the origin of this product but a Google search led me to a page called www.diydinosaurlamp.com which gives you information of the dino lamp. They not only have Triceratops but also Diplodocus, Pterodactyl and a T-Rex dino lamp! The page also links you to dinosaurlifestyle.com where you can place the order for the lamp.

I’ve also found an instructables that build a similar lamp using empty milk containers. You can read more about it here. 

Being a hardcore crafter myself, I took up the challenge to build this lamp from scratch – redraw the template, print the template on a 100gsm paper and build it. A lot of trial and error in the process which made me adjust the template drawing quite a few times to make it right. Here is the complete built of  the paper prototype of the lamp.

Next step is to find a suitable material for the lamp. At first I wanted to use the same plastic sheet that I use to make the Glasses Case but I’m out of the plastic file holder. I also don’t have any plastic milk/juice bottle lying around the house. So I was looking in my stockpile of  crafting materials when I found a box of clear binding covers that I bought long time ago. Yes, its the clear plastic sheet to cover documents or presentations, something similar as below.

 (Photo Credit : www.premium.com.sg)

This is the next best thing that I can re-purpose as a plastic sheet material. But clear cover is, well, has clear and transparent surface. And I don’t want to have a transparent Triceratops. So I sort of making an experiment with it – I spray paint the clear cover with white gloss. I did it for two reasons: 
1) the glossy white surface will diffuse the light source which is inside the dino body  

2) so that I can print the template directly to the clear cover.

Here is one of the clear cover spray-painted in white with printed template using my inkjet printer.

Next is to build the template. It is not as easy with the one I did with paper, the plastic is quite stiff and harder to cut, bend and form.

After a few round of adjustments I managed to make it fit perfectly. The finished product was coated with another few layers of spray paint.

The lamp's dimension is 28cm (L) x 16cm (H) x 15cm(W)

As for the lighting I just place in the bulb holder inside the body of the dino with the lamp cord runs through the tail. I still need to find a way to make a proper base to hold the bulb socket but as for now I’m quite happy with how the lamp looks.