Lamp Out of Picture Frames

by Ronja Lotte

Medium

In Germany we have the saying Das war eine schwere Geburt" - You can translate it with "That was a difficult birth" and it means that something was hard to realize. In this sense, this lamp was a "schwere Geburt". Not because it was so hard to make, but because I just could not decide on a design. With this lamp I had big plans and I finally wanted to be daring and mix bright colors with different patterns. After two months of indecision I gave up and decided on a simple design for the lamp. The leopard can't change its spots and this way the lamp fits much better to rest of my home decor.

lamp out of picture frames, crafts, lighting, repurposing upcycling

First you need four picture frames with the same size, a string of lights ...

... and Washi Tape. My string of lights is not any old string of lights. Some time ago I treated myself to these special fairy lights (Starry LED String Lights), which have two wonderful features. Firstly, the light bulbs are tiny and LED so they dont get hot and they look like tiny fireflies. The second feature is that the wire between the lights is made from copper and can be bend into form. So it is possible to bend each mini-bulb exactly to the spot where you want it to be.

I sawed two squares out of plywood. Both squares are equivalent to the lower and upper expanse of the lamp. Then I painted the wood white and drilled a small hole in one of them. This hole must be large enough that you can pull the cable of the light string through it. The square with the hole is the bottom of the lamp and the other one is the top.

In theory, the possibilities for this lamp are infinite. Although I left the glass panels clear, it looks also great if you cover the glass. For example with thin fabric, old book pages, prints of illustrations or thin wrapping paper. Furthermore, you can also paint the glass with glass paint or paint the picture frame itself with some bright colors. I think it could look very cute if you cover the glass with thin prints of children Illustrations and put the lamp as a night light in the nursery.

You can find the complete step by step tutorial with more images at my blog ;-)