Ping Pong LIghts for a Tween Room Makeover

My 12-year-old daughter informed me at Christmas time that it’s time to update her room.  She told me she wanted to repaint, get a new bedspread, get pictures for the walls, and buy lots of fun new pillows for her bed.  Oh yeah, and she wanted some fun lights too.  She is ready to make her room her own and couldn’t wait to get started.  

My daughter created a “decorate my room fund,” and asked for funds to help her with this project instead of presents for Christmas and her upcoming birthday.  I love how resourceful she’s been in finding ideas of how to come up with her Room Makeover.

Room Makeover Resources

In coming up with ideas for her room, my daughter noted things she liked from her friend’s room.  Then, she hit the Internet. Her favorite top resources?  Houzz, YouTube, and Walmart.com.  Here’s how she used them…

Houzz

Houzz is both a website and online community where viewers can find all sorts of architecture, interior design, decorating, landscaping, and home improvement ideas.  

Houzz is visually rich, with a thorough search engine to make it easier to find what you are looking for.  Houzz is also a great resource for articles, product recommendations, and a helpful useful forum.  Most products shown are available for purchase from a ton of different retailers.

My daughter searched through Houzz to find fun unique ideas to add to her her tween room makeover ideas.

Walmart

Walmart.com is a great resource for finding virtually anything and has a huge selection in comparison to its stores.  After going to Houzz, my daughter prefers to shop at Walmart because she can get a lot more for her money.  

She found comforter sets and pillows in her favorite colors both in-store and online.  Searching for a comforter set or pillows online is easy because you can indicate the dominant color you prefer in the fabric.

YouTube

Everyone knows YouTube, but especially tweens and teens!  YouTube is one of their top go-to resource to find out how to do anything…from braids to make-up to fashion…even to room makeovers!  (who knew?)

My daughter searched “room makeover” and “girl room makeover” to find a bunch of fun videos showing how to add fun and pizazz to her room.  What I found really cool were the DIY projects included, where other tweens and teens show viewers how to make special accents or features for their room.

DIY Ping Pong Lights

One fun DIY project my daughter came across was a creative way to add interesting lighting to her room.  She wanted some accented lively lighting that would add ambiance to her room without overtaking it.  She loved the idea of buying ping pong balls and putting them over a string of Christmas tree lights to make ping pong lights.  We went to our local Walmart and found a 100 string light set and a 36 count box of ping pong balls.

Here’s how she did it.  The whole project took 15 minutes.

Materials:

• 100 string light set
• 1 36-count box of ping pong balls
• 1 exacto knife or box cutter

Step 1:

Cut a small slit in the ping pong where you see writing on the ball.

Step 2:

Poke one of the string set lights into the slit.  You may have to twist the light a little to fit it in.  Continue until you have all the balls attached.  It took my daughter less than 15 minutes to make her lights.

To add some extra vibrancy to the project and cut down on costs, my daughter decided to only put a ping pong ball on every other light.  For another $10, she could buy another 36-count box of balls and add more balls later if she wants to.

That’s it!  Now plug in your lights anywhere you like and enjoy!  For a different look, try adding multi-color lights instead of white lights – both look really cool with the light diffused through the ping pong ball.

Here’s how it turned out…

My daughter was super excited with the results pf her ping pong lights.  She’s keeping them here for now.  She may string them across the ceiling later.  Ping pong lights are fun for a bedroom or for a party.  You can use them lots of different ways.

We purchased a 36-count box of EastPoint ping pong balls for $9.36 and a box of MAINSTAYS Clear Mini Lights for $4.97 at our local Walmart store for a total of $15.48.

Tell us your ideas – where would you use a set of ping pong lights?