Materials and the sequence of the job sit together on this page.
When it comes to DIYing, making your own light fixture might seem a little bit intimidating. And, obviously, anything that requires electrical work requires extra caution — or a call to a local electrician if you need. Our guest today kept it direct and used a plug-in light, proving that it can be pretty direct to make your own lighting! Plus, a pendant light is a great place to start small and bring a lot of style to a space! Katy used an unexpected object — a terrarium! — to make direct and chic geometric pendant light:
Katy has all the details for you below, and if you need another style, try these:
or see 14 more pendant light options here:
How to Make a Geometric Pendant Light from a Terrarium
by Kate from A Shade of Teal
Hi Bekob! I’m Katy from A Shade of Teal and I’m so excited to be sharing a Handmade project with you today! I blog about all things creative, but my main focus is Handmade projects and home renovation. My husband and I bought a major fixer upper almost 2 years ago and I’m slowly trying to renovate it room by room.
Today I’m sharing my Handmade glass geometric terrarium turned light fixture that I made for my office. I recently renovated my entire office (you can check that out here) and the biggest obstacle I had was lighting. This was the only room in our downstairs that did not have recessed lighting, or any installed light fixtures for that matter. My options were: A-Lamps, B-have professional electricians install lights, or C-make a fun exposed light fixture. I went with option C!
I went shopping and I was so excited I stumbled upon this glass terrarium because it had 1 side metal, 1 side open, and the rest was glass. It was meant to be a light fixture!
Here are the supplies needed:
- Glass Geo Terrarium, I bought mine at World market
- Jute Rope Electrical Cord Kit, also from World market, but you can find cheaper swag kits at any hardware store.
- Drill with 2” metal bit
- Edison Bulb
The Process:
First you’ll need to cut a hole in the metal side of the terrarium. My swag kit socket was a little shy of 2” wide so the hole in the terrarium needed to be 2”. I then eyed where the center was and very carefully cut through the metal. Be sure to not apply too much pressure when doing this so you don’t break the glass.
Then take the socket from the swag kit and make sure it fits. If it does then you can screw the socket on the terrarium. 
I also moved the stickers from the cord to the terrarium base so you won’t see them when it’s hanging.
Next I drilled holes for the ceiling hooks, 1 in the center of the room and 1 in the corner. Then I inserted the hook into the ceiling and screwed it tight.
I then hung the rope cord by the rings to make sure the cord was the right height over my desk.
Finally, I added my clear Edison style bulb and we were good to go!
Here’s with & without the light on.
This was such an straightforward Handmade fix and I love it so much!
Here’s the cost breakdown:
Geo Glass Terrarium- $39.99
Rope Sway Kit- $34.99
Edison Bulb- $7.50
Total with Taxes $85
For a similar option it could cost about $160, like this light fixture.
Here’s a picture of my Office all completed, the best part is this fixture actually puts off a lot of light.
Thanks for checking out my project, and I hope you’ve found this Handmade walkthrough helpful and inspiring! look at more projects on my blog A Shade of Teal.
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Thanks for joining us today, Katy! Such a great way to add light without calling an electrician — and so pretty, too!
Head over to A Shade of Teal to more of Katy’s memorable office — so many great projects, like a wine rack upcycled into a shelf, and IKEA method rustic wall shelves (that actually fit the brackets!). I want to move in! And Katy has a very nice style that I think you’ll really love, too!
