Add Warmth To Any Room In Your Home With This DIY Popsicle Stick Lamp
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If you like the look of rattan or woven cane and are trying to find a way to warm up a room in your home, consider making a DIY lampshade with popsicle sticks. This may sound like a craft that best belongs in a preschool classroom, but popsicle sticks are durable and convenient wood pieces for various projects. TikTok creator @juniorsartanddiy008 shared a straightforward guide on how to make a rectangular woven lantern or lampshade with just popsicle sticks, wood dowels, and hot glue. The concept is simple: form a rectangular frame for each panel, with one long wooden stick in the center. Fill out the rest of the panel with popsicle sticks, alternating each stick under and over the center piece to form the woven texture. Glue four panels together, and you have a shade. This creative way to revamp a light fixture will get you super stylish results.
For your supplies, you'll need large popsicle sticks, thin wooden sticks, hot glue, a light bulb, and a plug-in socket. This project calls for a lot of popsicle sticks, so your best option is to buy in bulk, like this pack of 200 jumbo wood craft sticks at Michael's, available for $5.49. Thin wooden craft sticks are also simple to find, like these skinny natural wood sticks on Amazon. For the light bulb socket, you can get a basic socket and cord set, like this socket on Amazon, available for around $8.
How to safely DIY a popsicle stick lamp
This DIY statement lighting idea looks cute and is relatively simple to make, but there are some tips to be aware of for this lampshade to be truly useable. In the demonstration from @juniorsartanddiy008, the lamp has a rather snug base for the light bulb socket, and it's made entirely out of popsicle sticks. While modern light bulbs are fairly safe and usually have a low risk of fire, you might want to leave a little more breathing room between the light bulb and the wood. You can do this by either creating an extra broad opening in the base for the light bulb to sit, or you can use a metal stand for your lamp, like this industrial table lamp base, available for around $13 on Amazon.
When it comes to successfully constructing the lamp, you'll need to exercise some precision and patience, especially with applying the hot glue. This is a slow-going project that involves gluing lots of small, individual pieces, including the skinny sticks for the panel frames and every single popsicle to fill in the empty space, as well as the tricky task of carefully gluing the panel sides together to form the complete lampshade. With all that in mind, it may be easier for this project to use a mini hot glue gun.
Once the lampshade is done, you can turn the light bulb on and enjoy the warm, natural effect of a woven lampshade.