Mason Jar Lamp

Today, I had a sudden burst of creative energy. I cleaned and rearranged my room, and then decided, "Hell, let's make a lamp." So I did. Before we get to the pictures, though, a little back story: A few months ago while I was out shopping with a friend of mine, we wandered into a store called Cotton On. Their clothes are awesome, and I bought a few things, but that's not what we're here for. Overhead, just outside the fitting room doors, there was a light fixture comprised of ten mason jars with light bulbs installed. (I basically had an orgasm. I have a thing for light fixtures. It's weird. Let's move on.) Luckily for you, kind reader, I Instagrammed it. Here's the photo:

At that moment, I decided my life wouldn't be complete without one of these things in my room. So after approximately four months, my life is complete. Or something. Whatever. Anyway, here's how I did it. 

First, I found a mason jar. In my house, this is astonishingly easy. My dad has this weird thing about collecting glass jars. (Don't even ask. I have no idea why. Turns out, he doesn't either.) After sorting through about 20 jars that were hidden beneath the kitchen sink, I decided on this guy:

Next, I found a cheap, old lamp from Walmart that my parents were happy to let me destroy for the lamp kit inside. (A lamp kit being that nifty little socket that you screw a bulb into. You can buy them individually at hardware stores or on Amazon, but this was cheaper.) And destroy it I did. 

The only problem is that once I managed to break that pesky thing apart, the portion of the cord that was concealed beneath all that fake wood was encased in a metal tube. With the right tools, I could have probably cut it off without doing much harm to the actual cord. Unfortunately, I had no such tools, so I moved on to plan B. 

I found an old Ikea lamp that was much (much, much, much) easier to disassemble. About 30 seconds later, I ended up with this:

Next, I cut a hole in the lid of the mason jar with a box-cutter. I didn't have to be very precise about it, as this specific lamp kit was going to do a nice job of covering up any rough edges I happened to leave. 

Then I slid the lamp kit through the hole and screwed in the bulb. 

The next part was surprisingly the most tedious, but also the most satisfying. I found a roll of twine in the garage and began to wrap up the dull, white cord. This gave it the rustic, handmade look I was going for. 

And here's the final product mounted over my desk. 

Thanks for reading!