DIY projects have really exploded with the development of the internet. Normal, everyday Joe’s are taking their unique talents and perspectives and turning them into fun and interesting projects, so that other people can accomplish these projects for themselves. Building something yourself comes with an immense sense of satisfaction that you won’t find in many other ventures. Watching something take shape and come to life from your own two hands makes the accomplishment of finishing all the more satisfying. I personally try to make as much of my Halloween costume myself every year. I will spend time sewing, hemming and hot gluing in order to get exactly what I want. It’s always really fun to give yourself a challenge to meet. This is the attitude that reddit user pippx had when it came time for her sons first birthday party. She wanted to do something really special and unique for her son, so she decided to turn his ordinary, boring ceiling fan into a star-gazing extravaganza. She gave her son a starry sky to light up every night while he falls asleep. She even traced out constellations to give the whole project a lot more authenticity. Being able to give her son a one of a kind experience in his bedroom must have felt pretty amazing. Check out the steps below, and get going on making your room a constellation filled night sky!
Pippx started by taking down the ceiling fan and detaching the blades, along with the iron connectors.
She then applied a coat of flat black paint to the detached blades. Pretty simple.
Keep your coats of paint light. Spray paint is designed for, and works best with thin, light layers. Using it this way allows it to dry even and smooth with no drips.
Navy blue and purple were then added in varying degrees of thickness and length across the blades. This was done to add depth and dimension to the final look of the blades.
After painting your fan blades, you are going to want to cut our your stars. Pippx used a pencil and a stencil to fill in the spots where she would be cutting out the stars. She then cut out the tracings using an exact knife. Always be careful when using sharp objects.
Pippx decided to use actual diagrams of constellations on her fan blades. Varying the size of the holes you cut with the razor knife can give the illusion of distance for the stars. The cut out constellations were then taped to the ends of the fan blades with painters tape.
This is a close up of the constellation cut out taped to the fan blade. Two coats of white paint were used as a base for the stars, then a coat of glow in the dark paint was added when the white paint was mostly dried. Using the patterns of constellations was a really genius idea. It makes the project feel much more real when you are looking up at it. Be sure to cover all the part of the blades that you don’t want to get paint on. It will eliminate you having to cover them and repaint them later on in the process.
Unfortunately, pippx did not heed my last piece of advice and ended up getting white paint splatter on the already painted black parts of the blade. Not to worry though, this can be fixed.
This is a view of what the blades looked like after her original screw up. As you can see, the white paint splattered onto the pre-painted black parts of the blades. As you can see, it is definitely a noticeable error.
We have a simple and easy fix if you do end up getting paint splatter on areas that are already painted. Simply take some painters tape and plastic sheets and tape the sheet so it covers the stars you have already painted on. Then simply repaint the area that has the unwanted paint on it, and it’s fixed!
These are the finished blades. The blue and purple really do add a lot of depth to the wood, which is really good for the enormity of the universe. The constellations also look fantastic, the different sizes of the stars and the varying brightness of them really give it the feel of looking up at the stars.
Always make sure you have an extra set of eyes to help you. Safety first. Safety first then teamwork.
Pippx then decided to paint the irons that attach the blades to the center of the fan. The entire fan she was working with was white, and she didn’t want any of the white to diminish the stars that were just painted. Painting the irons the same colors as the blades blended the whole project together.
This is what a finished blade should look like in the dark. This turned out really well and the glow in the dark paint works excellent.
After all of this, it’s time to install your fan blades. Painting the irons was definitely worth it, it really ties the whole ceiling fan, motor and all, together. I seriously want one of these in my room now.
Pippx decided to go all out with this ceiling fan and even paint the glass globe that will go around the light on the fan. She painted the inside to look like the western hemisphere of the world. She started out by tracing outlines of North and South America on the outside of the glass. She used greens and blues to create the water and land. 2 bottles of acrylic paint and a 1/2 inch brush were used, and letting the paint dry for a bit on a paper plate let it harden and helped give her the texture she wanted for the water and the clouds.
This is what her finished globe looked like. This thing looks super awesome with the light against it if I must say.
Imagine looking up at this while reading a book or just relaxing with a movie playing.
That is one happy kid right there. I know I would be too if I just got part of the universe put directly in my bedroom.
I absolutely loved reading about this DIY project. There is nothing overly complicated about it, but the end product is something that any kid, or adult for that matter, should really enjoy. We should all try to be creative and take on projects like this. They are super rewarding and will be the envy of all your friends. You don’t need to go to outer space to get close to the stars.