Tag Team DIY Lamp

Why is this a tag team DIY lamp?  Because my husband & I worked on it together!  Although there was some figuring out to do, there was no tag team wrestling involved, if that’s what you thought.  ; )  When I wrote “tag team” it reminded me of this song from the 90s.  Now it’s stuck in my head!  Maybe it’s stuck in your head now too – sorry!  ; D

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Lamp Parts

Back in October, I found this large, old pickle jar full of wooden spools.

Once I finished my selvage edge lamp shade, I knew the pickle jar had to be the base.  It was just a matter of figuring out how to do that!  So, I bought a lamp kit & asked my husband if he knew how to hook it up.  You can just see his work pant clad legs in the top of the picture.  He would not let me take a picture of him working on it!

By the way, the link is to a kit that looks exactly like the one I bought for $12.97 at Home Depot.  It’s $6.31 on Amazon!  That’s what I get for waiting until the last minute to buy one!  : P

Since the pickle jar no longer had it’s lid, I needed to fashion something to go on top of the jar to set the upper lamp on.  I picked up a ceiling canopy kit that looked like it was just about the size I needed.

This was $6.97 at Home Depot but it’s $19.97 on Amazon.  Guess that balanced out my light kit!  Once I had all the things I needed, it was time to put it all together!

Sorry these pictures are a little grainy.  We were working in my son’s old room & the lighting is horrible!

Putting it Together

The kit came with general instructions on the back about connecting things.  What it doesn’t tell you, is which side of the cord is the neutral & which side is hot.

I had to look that up & found this article from The Family HandyMan very helpful!  We both learned that the side of the plug that has textured lines on it, is the side that goes to the neutral plug prong.  Knowledge!

Once everything was wired up, we realized it should have been threaded through the base first!  Oops!  My husband took it back apart, threaded it through the base, & connected everything back up.  Then we realized the part that attaches the lamp to the base was on the outside of the base.  It needed to be on the inside.  Oops #2!

On the 3rd try we finally got it right.  He threaded the wires through one of the screw holes in the ceiling canopy & back up through the center hole.  This was necessary to keep the cord out of the jar.  The picture below may help clear up what I’m talking about.

This is the top of the set up.

I also realized the ceiling canopy was the exact same diameter as the top of my pickle jar – 5″.  Although the description online does say that, the one from the store does not provide that information.  I decided to use pliers to flare out the sides a bit, to see if it would fit.

I could not get it a point that it would set securely on top of the jar no matter how much I bent it.  That left me with one option – the glue gun!

Yes, my glue gun is stored in a Despicable Me 2 lunchbox.  Where do you keep yours?  ; )  I used a glue gun because I didn’t want anything permanently attached to the top of the jar.  The hot glue was enough to secure it but it is easy to remove.

Not really digging the gold light fixture.  I will paint it eventually!

Light it up!

Here’s my new lamp in all it’s sewing glory!

The jar has even been clean up to remove years of dust & some leaves on the inside.

It looks even better turned on!

I just love it!

I will definitely need to paint the fixture & base.  Although, the marks from my pliers give it a rustic sort of touch.  : )

The frame of the lamp shade is purple, but it kind of goes well with the gold….

This picture reminds me of people holding flashlights up to their face to tell a scary story.  Haha!  Anyway, I really love my new lamp!  The fact that my husband & I made it together makes it even better.  : D

Be sure to check out my new Facebook group Teadoddles Makers.  We are having fun sharing our makes & all makers are welcome to join in.  See y’all Friday!

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