DIY Lights With Ping Pong Balls

This is a guest post written by Callum Mundine from www.ledworld.com.au in Australia. He co-owns the business with his brother and is chief lighting designer. In his spare time, he enjoys making fun DIY project for his children.

Lighting is an important aspect of interior design and home decoration. Good lighting can enhance the beauty of a well-designed place, but bad lighting can ruin it.

Luckily, you don’t have to spend a fortune on pretty lights for your home. This DIY light project made with ping pong balls and LED lights can give your room a nice, warm glow while adding a dash of personality.

You can buy LED lights at your local supplies store. Christmas lights are also an option, so instead of using them only on December, you can enjoy them any time of the year.

A word of caution, though: LED lights are safer to use, especially if you plan on hanging these up in your kids’ room. Standard Christmas lights are more prone to overheating, and ping pong balls can be flammable. Christmas lights are fine if you’ll be using them for short periods of time only.

These DIY lights are so easy to make, you can ask your kids to help (though you’ll probably want to handle the knife yourself). Spend an afternoon with them making this project and hanging it up in their room. They’ll be delighted at the end result, for sure.

Ping pong balls are available at sporting goods stores. You can also get a gross of them—that’s 144 balls—for under $20 online. You’ll want to get more balls than lights, so you have a few extra just in case your kids break some.

You’ll also want to test out your lights before starting the project, to make sure that they’re in good condition. Check for overheating or electrical shorts. Ping pong balls are made of plastic so any overheating might cause them to warp or catch on fire. Afterwards, unplug them before you start to work.

Materials

You will need:

• Christmas lights or LED lights (white, clear, or colored)
• Ping pong balls
• Drill bit or X-Acto knife
• Optional: Silicone or hot glue

You may or may not secure the lights to the balls with silicone or hot glue. This will just add stability to the lights, but if you’re not anticipating movement or lights seem to be pretty secure without glue, it’s fine to skip it. If you do prefer securing the lights to the balls, I suggest using silicone instead of glue. Silicone is easier to remove, so if you’ll be using the lights in the future for some other use, you can easily remove the balls from them.

Making ping pong ball lights are as easy as 1-2-3:

Step 1: Make holes in the balls

Make a small X cut in each ping pong ball with the knife, taking care to avoid the seams. The cuts should just be big enough for each bulb to go through, but not too big that they fall out easily.

You can also use a drill bit to drill holes in the balls. Use a quarter inch drill bit for standard sized Christmas lights. Secure each ball with clamps and drill a small hole through them.

Step 2: Insert the lights

Push the lights into the balls. If you’re using silicone or glue, secure them by gluing the area where the cut is. Let dry.

Step 3: Hang them up and plug them in

Now step back and admire your handiwork! Ping pong lights are great to use as added wall décor in any room, as party decorations, or if you simply want to add more light in a creative, inexpensive way. Whether you choose colored lights or white lights, these ping pong balls will surely add a touch of style to your home.