Sunday, July 12, 2009

Light up your life

Here's a quickie DIY project to make a lamp out of anything with a whole in the top...umm...or a bottle. I found a great blue bottle at Marshall's for $5 and bought the lamp kit months ago for $7. I found an awesome lamp shade for $9 at Pottery Barn the other day and the light bulb went off in my head...make a lamp for the new guest room.

Here's the details:


Step 1: You can buy a lamp kit at a hardware store and it provides the directions about how to wire it. It's real easy. Mine came with little rubber stopper thingers you can use instead of the cork, but I prefer the cork because they're easy to find(They have them in a variety of sizes at OSH) and provide a better seal.
Step Two: Wrap tape around the cork to prevent it from falling apart and then drill a hole in the middle in order to insert the light socket.
Step Three: Find a jug or whatever you like and insert the cork with the light socket.

You can see my mallet hanging out in the background. That's how I got my cork down and snug in the bottle.

Part Five: Add your shade (and harp if needed) and find your new lamp a home.


Easy as pie and only $21. I think my quick and affordable project can be compared to those found in the pages of House Beautiful.





1 comment:

Anonymous said...

How did I miss this post? This lamp is awesome and it cost so little to do! Love it! I've never looked at PB for lamp shades..I need to remember that.

Thanks for the tutorial! Looks great!