Are your cabinets packed with baking relics from a previous age? Through time kitchens tend to collect old baking sheets, pie tins and muffin pans. Their patina and wear can make them unsuitable for cooking, but those bits do not need to be destined for the trash or a second-hand shop. You can infuse new life into them by becoming creative and repurposing these bits into home decor instead. This tutorial will explain how you can turn sour tins or pie pans into hanging lamps for the home.
Lauren Donaldson
These lamps are mini and would work best as delicate accent lighting, or hanging on a desk or with a bedside. The 6-watt bulbs set out just enough light to read by, but not enough to disturb others.
Lauren Donaldson
Materials:
Vintage tart tins6-watt Indicator lightbulbsCord with snap-in candelabra socket and change Colored electric tapeElectric drill1/4-inch titanium drill bitNeedle-nose pliersHammerProtective gloves and gloves
Lauren Donaldson
1. Before beginning, wear protective gloves and goggles. The alloy is sharp following drilling, so be safe while managing it. Twist the tart tin upside down and then put it over a scrap piece of wood. Hold the tin securely and drill a hole directly through the middle.
Lauren Donaldson
2. Gradually and carefully use the needle-nose pliers to peel back the rim of the hole that was drilled. Increase the size of this hole as you move. The socket should pass through the gap, so make the diameter as large as the plastic socket.
Lauren Donaldson
3. The socket includes a snap-in metal piece. This piece is not necessary for this particular lamp fixture, so remove it by lightly hammering around the edges of it until it slides off.
Lauren Donaldson
4. Bend the metal back and forth until it snaps in two and remove it in the cord.
Lauren Donaldson
5. Make sure that the socket fits.
Lauren Donaldson
6. Wrap the socket and cord with electrical tape. It’s easiest to cut numerous small pieces of tape and then slowly work your way up the cord.
Lauren Donaldson
7. Add the socket into the hole at the tin. Lightly hammer it in if needed. The rough edges of the alloy should hold the socket in place snugly.
Lauren Donaldson
In this example, the tart tins are vintage ones located from a local antiques store. If you’re in need of tins, have a look at local second-hand or antiques stores and even yard sales for a few inexpensive alternatives. These tins are somewhat small, about 31/2 inches in diameter and not very deep. To create a larger lamp, replace the tart tin with a pie pan and then put in a larger bulb.
More DIY:
Basket-Shade Pendant Light
Fluffy White Paper Lantern