Friday, May 29, 2009

Mason Jar Lamp

I have been wanting to try this for some time now. Thanks to Ryan, I finally got to!! I thought $14 for the jar lamp kit was outrageous, and didn't want to pay it!! Plus, the lamp kits are only for standard mouth jars and I wanted to use a wide mouth jar. I brought this idea to Ryan, who used to be the lamp and vacuum guy at his work, and he said it is possible to make this without the kit. So, here it is!

I will list the price and some tips I found while making this after the instructions.


Supplies:
light socket
lamp electrical cord
carriage bolt 1 1/2" long 1/4" thick
hex nut 1/4"
fender washer 1/4"
Mason Jar
lamp shade
Dremel
light bulb



1. Drill a hole in the center of the lid. (the drill "got away" from Ryan and that is why it looks so large)









2. Drill a hole in the side of the socket bottom.











3. Insert the lamp cord through the hole you just drilled in the socket.











4. Following the package directions, attach the cord to the screws on the socket.








5. Insert the bolt into the bottom of the socket base. Lightly push socket into base.










6. Put the socket cover over the socket and push until it snaps in place.











7. Place the bolt into the hole on the lid. Secure tightly with the washer and nut. Make sure it is centered (ours is not due to the large hole we messed up)








8. Put the rim of the jar over the socket and pull the cord through. It is now ready to be placed on top of you mason jar.



Prices and Tips
I got my socket and cord at Walmart: socket $1.97, cord $1.88. Home Depot wanted $3.88 for the socket and $5.88 for the cord.

I used a half gallon, wide mouth jar. You can use any size jar, I just liked the look of the half gallon size. I found one at Michael's for $2.99 or $3.99. If you have an Ace Hardware nearby, you can order from the site and pick it up at the store with no charge. They wanted $10.49 for 6 jars ($1.75 a jar). Here is the information: Ace Hardware

The lamp shade I used is 9"x9" and was $5.00 at Walmart. Hobby Lobby sells smaller lamp shades for a little cheaper if you used a smaller jar.

Total Cost
Socket 1.97
Cord 1.88
Jar 1.75
Bolt, nut & washer 0.39
Lamp shade 5.00
=$10.99

If you decide not to buy the pieces and do it yourself, you can buy the lamp kit from Amazon for 3/19.99 (6.66 each). This is NOT a wide mouth kit though and this price doesn't include shipping! Total cost of lamp with kit and shipping: $17.

I have some ideas of what to fill the jar with and will post them later next week.

7 comments:

Vera said...

If that was my lamp I would fill it with buttons, but what do I know?

Sue said...

Great work!
I like your lamp but I would never be able to make one on my own (I couldn't use a kit because we don't have these kits in Italy ) ... thanks for the tutorial ... I will save it... you never know maybe DH will try to help out but I doubt it.

Hugs,
Sue.

Doreen said...

WOW that is lovely!
How ingenious and clever you are and thanks for the tutorial...I will refer back to it, very interesting!
Hugs
Doreen

Joy said...

Thank you for that great tutorial. Your lamp is so pretty. I like the country look.

Kudzu said...

This is a great craft! Thanks for sharing :D I've been thinking of doing something with a lamp myself, I've been saving neckties...I want to make my granddaughter a skirt with the wider half and a lampshade with the narrower half.
I was wondering if I could go to a thrift store or yard sale and buy a lamp to take apart to make a new lamp?
kudzu

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Megan said...

Love your lamp! I'm going to be featuring your tutorial on crazydomestic.com tomorrow! Thanks for sharing your cute idea!