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Make an Alien Abduction Lamp

30 March 2009 206,572 views 49 Comments

by heather

This is an entry in the Living With Lindsay Five Dollar Challenge! The challenge was to make a home decor item for $5 or less. My project is inspired by Lasse Klein's conceptual Alien Abduction Lamp. The lamps are still being developed and are not available for sale yet.* (update 2010: oh yes, the lamp is now available) I thought it would be fun to make one for my own personal use out of materials I found at the dollar store.

When I was shopping for materials, I couldn't find any toy cowshere are some cows for you (a cow has to be the one being messed with by the aliens, right?), so I bought a plastic "Noah's Ark" set that contained a pig (although there were only one of each animal in the set, so I hardly see how that qualifies as a Noah's Ark set!) After everything was done, I found a farm seta set something like this that had a cow in it at Target's dollar spot, so I had to get it to make the lamp perfect!

Project Materials:

  • Large-lipped bowl, $1
  • Smaller bowl, $.25 (mine was marked down)
  • Acrylic drinking glass, $1
  • Touch light, $1
  • Package of farm animals, $1
  • 3 Aliens I happened to find in the coin-op machines on the way out, $.75

Total cost: $5

You will also need, from on hand:

  • Glue (E6000 recommended, but hot glue will probably work)
  • Cutting implements to cut hole in one bowl and the top of the glass, such as a Dremel, drill, or tin snips (we used the latter two--a pain)
  • Batteries to operate the light
  • Paint (we used black spray paint and silver craft acrylic)

See Page 2 for Instructions

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Pages: 1 2

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49 Comments »

  • Bridget B. said:

    Wow – I think I actually like your version better!! (Is that sacrilege?!)

  • Beryl said:

    Very cool! I really like it!

  • craftydame said:

    ha! this is fabulous! i agree with bridget, i like yours better too! i think it’s the rounded shape of the UFO and the waveyness of your plastic glass, they’re both great touches!

  • Kathryn said:

    This is awesome!

  • songbirdtiff said:

    This is great! How fun for a kids room.

  • Sandra said:

    What little boy wouldn’t want this lamp. Very cute!
    Have a good day.
    Sandra

  • Kathy V said:

    So adorable! Well done!!

  • Becca Brant said:

    Yours is WAY better! My husband wants one for his office. We will be making one soon. :) Thanks for making me laugh today.

  • thea said:

    brilliant!

  • Kim said:

    Oh My GOSH!!!
    This is by far one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen, and you made it for only $5?!?!?! You are truly talented, and I’m going to have to make one too… thanks for the laugh, and the AWESOME Idea :)

  • jen said:

    AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • James said:

    This is really cool!

  • Shannon said:

    This is AWESOME! Thanks for a great idea, H! Me and the boy will be making one soon.

  • Conspirama said:

    Make an Alien Abduction Lamp | Dollar Store Crafts…

    ha! this is fabulous! i agree with bridget, i like yours better too! i think it’s the rounded shape of the UFO and the waveyness of your plastic glass, they’re both great touches! # 30 March 2009 at 11:46 pm ……

  • mub said:

    I’m sure I like yours better, what a funny idea!

  • Rachel said:

    NO WAY! This is SOOO creative, I’m blown away. Wow. I love it and I’m super, super impressed! The cow made me laugh so hard! I’ll be linking.

  • april said:

    this came out so well! So very, very clever. thanks so much for sharing!

  • Chrissy said:

    Oh, you’re too good! Love this!

  • living with lindsay said:

    Oh, this is so much fun that I can’t hardly stand it! Love it!!

  • Satsuki said:

    I know I’m not the only to spot this and love it- another great creation. My hat goes off to you. ^^

  • Nikki said:

    Hilarious! I’ve gotta make that!

  • Marie {Make and Takes} said:

    Can I just tell you that I love how your brain works! What you come up with is amazing!! Love this lamp!

  • Sandy Toe said:

    That is just too too cute!
    sandy toe

  • Kathryn said:

    This post inspired me to make an Alien Abduction Nite Lite with dollar store items.

    http://craftsandcreationswithkathy.blogspot.com/2009/05/alien-abduction-nite-lite.html

    My son thinks this is one of the coolest things I have ever made. Thank you so much for sharing this idea with all of us!

  • smoke juice said:

    What a creative use of dollar store items. At Christmas my family exchanges home made gifts and we try to keep the cost @ $5.00. This is too perfect for my uncle.

  • Za said:

    Poor cow. I’d rather put a baby in there.

  • Karl said:

    Fantastic! The uneven thickness of the glass you picked, has a lot to do with its overall goosebumpishly eerie effect which is superior to that of the original.

  • dorela said:

    It’s amazing! thanks for share

  • jer said:

    I found an inexpensive way to make these for the kids at kids camp. I used two paper bowls, and a clear platic throw away glass. I painted the bowls black and cut windows out in the top bowl. I painted the insides of the bowl bright yellow. I used a small dollar store touch light for $1.00 and three AAA bateries for $.34. The windows show up green and the light shines down through the glass. It cost only $1.50 for this project per child and they loved it!

  • JHIll said:

    LOVE this lamp! I have been looking for a cute small lamp for my son’s space themed room (that didn’t cost $50!).

    I found that you can get small samples of green outdoor rugs (the ones that look like grass) for free at home improvement stores. When I make this lamp for my son’s bedroom, I think I will use one for underneath the cow, unless it makes the lamp too tippy.

  • jade said:

    this is soooo awesome i think its pretty cool that by looking at something u can figure out how 2 make it

  • Therese said:

    Hi!

    Just wanted to let you know that I saw this page and decided to make my own. A picture plus a link to here is published on my blog.
    Your version is waaaay better than mine :)

  • peevsie77 said:

    This is so AWESOME! I am so making one for my boyfriend’s dorm. :)

  • heather (author) said:

    Here’s Therese’s Alien Abduction Lamp: http://thingsivemade.wordpress.com/2009/07/19/alien-abduction-lamp/

  • Poze said:

    Very nice tutorial, i love the lamp. Thank you.

  • Marisa said:

    I think it’s awesome but I would have bought a solar led light (like those cheap ones for the garden) and put the solar panel on top drilled more holes so the light shines out the sides and put little pieces of clear colored plastic glued over the side holes then used a square scrap piece of wood, glued indoor out door fake grass and some mini trees around and used that as a base. Set it by a bright window and enjoy. My step son will LOVE putting this together! He loves aliens! Thanks for the idea!

  • April Mitchell said:

    So cute! I love your creativity!

  • Beverly said:

    What a fun project for kids!!

  • theresa said:

    I’m going to have to make one for myself. I’m a big sci fi fan especially of the aliens and i have ton of those little quarter machine aliens that I’ve collected and this will be a cool way to put them to use.

  • The Greys - Aliens and cows – it’s not just us said:

    [...] original lamps. If you don’t mind putting in a bit of Blue Peter effort though, you can also make your own much more cheaply. You could even save a little money by foregoing the “Package of farm animals” and [...]

  • Jessica H. said:

    I linked to this idea from my blog. I have made a few versions of this lamp, but can’t seem to get it right! :P

    madincrafts.blogspot.com

  • LoRaeAussie said:

    great X-MAS GIFTS

  • Young Wife said:

    How very clever! Thanks for sharing.

  • BW said:

    We saw a link to this project on our friend’s site (www.graciousrain.com) and decided to give it a try. A set of drip pans for an electric stove works wonderfully as a UFO. They brought the price of the project slightly over $5 but were well worth it. We didn’t have to drill anything or buy spray paint. And with some celophane, we made the hole in the side of the drip pan into a window with alien pilot inside. Also, Walmart has a happy face touch light for $1 that gives off an eerie yellow glow. Thanks for this idea!

  • Handmade Christmas Gifts | said:

    [...] “Alien Abduction Lamp” at Dollar Store Crafts [...]

  • stefanie said:

    Brilliant! Literally and figuratively

  • BBC said:

    I get alot of attention when I have my garage sales or town and country flea market sales…..I get alot of grown up (Rosewell)lovers!! Good job my friend….oh..and thanks :D

  • Nibiru Planet X said:

    Awesome! i made one and mine looks great! Thank you for such an easy project!

  • Jennifer said:

    This is so funny! Love it!

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