I was given this DIY paper owl lamp for Christmas. I’ve never made a paper model before so this was a super interesting experience (and, at times, a little frustrating). Overall, it was super fun and quick to make and I’m really grateful to the person who gave me this thoughtful gift.

To help me, I used a letter opener and a ruler to score the fold lines. I started out using a glue stick to assemble, but the pieces kept popping out of place and the whole structure fell apart. I switched to double-sided tape which made the assembly process a lot easier.

The kit came with a model (the smaller of the two owls) for practise, which I painted with water colour before gluing together.

The toughest part was getting the base on. To fit the base to the rest of the lamp, the lamp needs to be contorted and compressed into a shape it really doesn’t want to go in. I just managed to get it on while I was filming, but I didn’t bother putting it on the model. As you can see from the picture above, the base has started to come away, about two or three days after filming. I will reapply the tape, but I’m not sure how long it will last given how the structure is fighting against it.

The owl looks nice without the base, as you can see from the model, but it won’t sit as neatly over the light bulb socket.

With the exception of my struggles with the base, I really loved this kit.