This project began over the summer with a Coke bottle that has been displayed on a shelf above my desk for about 8 years. I decided it was time to do something to make it useful, so after I discovered a cool lamp making kit online, I made a lamp out of it…which then created a need for a one-of-a-kind lampshade to go with it!
There’s a fresh produce store about 20 minutes from our house, and they sell soft drinks in glass bottles. Right next to the fridge where the bottles are stored is a wall-mounted bottle opener with a jar under it to catch the lids. The store just tosses the lids when the jar gets full, so I started collecting them every time I went to that store this summer to buy fresh strawberries. Over a period of about 5 months, I collected what seemed like enough to complete this project…and it turned out that I collected the exact right number – plus one extra! Couldn’t have planned it better if I’d tried.
Supplies to make a lamp from an old Coke bottle and caps:
- Bottle caps (the number required will depend on the size of your lampshade; I used somewhere around 50)
- Empty Coke bottle
- Lamp kit (I bought mine off of Amazon, but you can find them at craft stores, too)
- Wire (I used thin, pliable wire)
- Hook nose jewelry pliers
- Scissors (to cut fabric off of lampshade), wire cutters (to cut the wire)
- Lampshade
- Hammer
- Awl
How to make a lamp from an old Coke bottle and caps
I began by hammering 4 holes along the edge of each bottle cap with the awl – top, bottom, left, and right sides.
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| If I had a hammer… |
I set aside my pile of hole-y caps to cut the fabric cover off of the lampshade, leaving only the metal frame. I hated this step since this was a new frame I bought because I got impatient looking for one the right size at Goodwill.
Next, I weaved the wire through the holes in the caps, twisting it around the lamp shade frame when necessary to secure the caps to the frame. I watched a movie while I did this, so even though it was a pretty quick process…I probably could have done it faster with my undivided attention. 🙂
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| Before I tied down all the excess wire. Note the one extra bottle cap! |
At that point, all that was left to do was tuck in the excess wire and add my new lampshade onto my existing lamp…and, tah-dah!! It’s a brand-new, one-of-a-kind bottle cap lampshade!
Time: 2-4 hours
Cost: Under $10 (lamp kit-$7, bottle-free, lids-free, wire-leftover)