DIY Wall Sconce From Upcycled Glass Light Shades

17 Materials
$15
2 Hours
Easy

I joined a DIY blogging challenge this year and each month we have a new project assignment. Last month it was an organization challenge, and for that I created my DIY built-in closet organizer. This month's challenge was to upcycle a thrift store item, so off to the thrift store I went! I found some glass light shades that had been taken off of a bathroom or ceiling fan light fixture and decided I was going to upcycle those into something (just wasn't quite sure what that something was going to be at the time!) But, after some thought, I decided I was going to create a wall sconce or wall décor, utilizing the glass light shades as part of the design. Here's what I came up with:

Here's a brief tutorial on how I created my wall sconce/wall art. For a full, detailed tutorial, visit my blog at the link at the bottom of this post.


First, I cut the 1x8 wood boards to size and drilled the holes for the light shades.

I then stained the long back board and the three sconce shelves and let them dry.


While the wood was drying, I washed the light shades (they were pretty dusty from sitting on the shelf at the thrift store).

I then painted the glass light shades with two shades of blue spray paint (was going for an ombre effect).

While the paint was drying, I assembled the wood pieces using wood glue and wood screws.

Next, it was time to get out my Cricut! I found some designs I liked in Cricut Design Space, in addition to some of my own designs that I made, and cut out the designs onto permanent vinyl.

I then transferred the vinyl designs onto the wood backing of the sconce board.

Once all the vinyl designs had been transferred to the wood board, I added string lights to each glass light shade. I added a small piece of clear plastic to the bottom of each sconce to ensure the lights didn't fall out.

I added the glass sconces into the holes in the boards and pressed firmly to ensure they were snug and straight. (The pic below was prior to the vinyl being added, but shows the light coming through the glass shades)

I added hanging wire to the back of the sconce and hung it on the wall.

I then added some faux flowers to give the sconce a little extra color!

Resources for this project:
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  • Lynn Lynn on Mar 19, 2019

    Love this but dont see the lights listed in the supplies..are they battery operated? They would look so good on the brick wall at my back deck!

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  • Laura Siebrecht Laura Siebrecht on Mar 26, 2019

    Very cool, I believe I still have my old tulip shades from a ceiling fan when I replaced them with the black lamp cages

  • Tiffany Lazon Tiffany Lazon on Aug 06, 2019

    Just absolutely remarkable! I want to try this project! The colors you had picked out are so tranquility and memorizing! Thank you for sharing!

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