The Toy Lamp is the creation of Irish designer Ryan McElhinney who also came up with similar designs for a series of unique wall mirrors. The lamp has a sculptural base and, as you can guess from its name, the design is toy-related. More exactly, the designer used a bunch of actual recycled toys to build the base of the lamp.

The toys are put together and then coated in a high-gloss polyurethane lacquer. Each lamp is made by hand and has a sculptural flair.The fact that the designer uses toys for this project gives the lamp a childish, silly aura. However, the way in which the toys are integrated raises the whole composition to a whole new level and allows it to look elegant and even glamorous.

What’s lovely is also the attention to detail. The toys are carefully selected and cluttered together in a stylish way. Their expressions and placement tells a story and the whole composition sends a message which can be interpreted in a lot of different ways. The fact that the toys seems to scramble to hold the lampshade is a fun and quirky detail that gives this piece a lot of character.

In addition, given that no unusual techniques and materials are used for the project, it would theoretically be possible to turn this into a DIY craft. You can come up with your own version of the lamp and experiment with different ideas.