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Happy Monday everyone! We're up on our next weekly installment of the I Spy series. I'm currently cooped up in my office, closing the books for Q1 and month-end, but not to fear! I wouldn't miss out on featuring a stellar DIY project that I stumbled on this week.
I've had over-sized hanging lights/lanterns/globes on my mind for a while now. I think it's because I'm constantly planning our hypothetical new living space (you know, after we move and all), and I definitely want to incorporate some sort of extra large light fixture into the space… whenever that may be. Most over-sized light fixtures cost a fortune, which, like the accountant I am, forced me to hunt for an alternative DIY version. That's when I found this very project!
If you haven't met her already, let me introduce you to the mighty talented Alicia, of Thrifty and Chic. Alicia is an avid DIYer with a defined purpose to undertake all projects with a thrifty budget. She actually just remodeled her bathroom with $60! Alicia knows how it's done!
Today I'm sharing Alicia's beautiful coffee filter hanging light. It was so difficult choosing to feature just one of Alicia's many projects, so I highly recommend taking a moment to check out her projects page!
It took Alicia ~6 hours, 800 coffee filters, and 15 glue sticks to create this gorgeous globe. That's a lot of labor for a $5 lamp, but it was well worth it if you ask me! Here's a quick visual of how Alicia crafted her coffee filter lamp:
$5 hanging lamp from Ikea + 800 coffee filters
fold the coffee filters in quarters, then fold the bottom corner up to create a "base". Then apply a bit of hot glue to the bottom of the base and attach to the globe.
Repeat, and repeat, and repeat, until your lamp is completely covered. Alicia learned from the gluing process that it doesn't exactly matter where you begin or what "pattern" you choose to make when gluing the filters to the paper shade, since the filters are quite malleable. Alicia advises, just be sure to glue the folded filter corners somewhat on top of one another, then fill in any extra filters if you find any holes or open spaces.
Alicia's hanging light turned out so luscious and angelic, it reminds me of a floating cloud. Coffee filters create the perfect amount of fluff and texture. Alicia says it best, "Who knew that something so beautiful can come out of something so simple as coffee filters?" People are so creative!
Can you believe Alicia spent a total of $15 on this hanging light! I am just smitten with Alicia's project, it is definitely going on my list of things to make for that hypothetical new loft of mine :)
