TURN A LANTERN INTO A LIGHT FIXTURE
2 Materials
I was determined to figure out how to get a light for less than $20. Y’all know I’m a cheapskate. But, in the end, I won, because I figured out how to get the modern style light I was craving for a fraction of the price. Yes, this is the tale of how to turn a lantern into a light fixture.
It all started at Target searching for a new light fixture....but within my $20.00 budget. Then I saw it...$14.97 on clearance. SCORE! I looked it over carefully. It is/was a solar lantern, but upon close inspection I knew that it could be stripped of all the lanterny bits and made into a light. I was on a mission.
So we got home, and I told Mr. SCC I wanted to take it all apart. Yes, dear, a brand new lantern. I’m not going to wreck it — it’ll be gawgeous. Because he loves me, he took off the handle.
It’s a good thing he believes in my vision, because he had no more than put the screwdriver down before I had popped the top off and had him looking for the pliers.
Apparently Target didn’t want that candle-ish part to come out, because they couldn’t just use some regular screws. Oh no. They had to up the ante and use little bolts, complete with ridiculously tiny nuts that may or may not have been cursed during the removal process.
But, remembering that I’m a persistent girl, we took out the way too tiny bolts and flipped it upside down. Now we had a naked lantern to go with our naked bulb. Before we could join them in lighting matrimony, there was one more step, creating a hole for the socket. That was probably the easiest part of the whole process, because it took about 60 seconds to use a spade bit and make a path for the light.
Ta Da...In the end, I’d love to say he stood back in awe and declared the light “Gawgeous!” However, he did not. I did get a “Looks good,” as he jetted outside before I could find him another project. Which in his language is a two thumbs up. Works for me!
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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2 of 27 comments
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Gawgeous! Can’t believe how smart you are. Inspired to try this for my foyer with something similar. Thank you
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Of course spray painting a 50¢ basket from the thrift store would work also.
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Looks great! How large is your area the light hangs in? Does one light cover your area r do you wish you had 2? Thank you!
Gina this is perfectly awsome. I love it. It worked wonderful... And as for those haters out there. I'm sure approx. 99.9% of hometalkers out there are well aware of what we can purchase at thrift stores. Also we don't always find what we are searching for. My question is should we just settle for a basket we found for .50¢ at a thrift store just because it's .50¢ Lin?