Nothing says “spring” to me like birds. I love hearing them – finally – here in Michigan! I haven’t spotted any nests yet, but it won’t be long. So I thought I’d build one of my own with the supplies for the Spring challenge here at Crafts Unleashed. Of course, a nest by itself isn’t so special – so I made a piece that was both fun and functional using the new theme supplies! Using a mason jar, I made up a bird nest and chicken wire DIY lamp:
Supplies needed to make your own mason jar DIY lamp:
- Wide Mouth Mason Jar
- Wide Mouth Mason Jar Lamp Adapter Kit
- Mossy Twig Vine Garland
- Lamp Shade
- Chicken Wire Netting
- Wired Sisal Vine
- 1.5 inch Wooden Eggs
- Acrylic Paint ( I used a Light Blue)
- Wire Cutters & Pliers
First, I created my nest by coiling up a bit of mossy vine – about the same diameter as the jar itself. I secured it with the bit of wire I took off of it when I opened the package. I painted my eggs and added them to the nest as soon as they dried.
Then, I wrapped the top of the jar with some sisal vine. Finally, I finished my lamp by screwing on the mason jar DIY lamp adapter.
Then, I covered my lamp shade in chicken wire netting. I clipped it with wire cutters to approximately the finished size I needed (be sure there’s enough excess to wrap all your edges). When I got to the seam along the side of the lamp shade, I clipped the edge short and wrapped the cut wires around the beginning edge.
For the top and bottom, I wrapped snugly over the edges of the shade, and trimmed the excess wire off. The wire is strong enough to hold on its own.
All I had to do now was just assemble the shade onto the DIY lamp, and plug it in! It’s a cute rustic addition to your spring decor.
What kind of decor are you adding to your home for spring?
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Adrianne is a writer, artist, designer, wife, and mom of 2 kids. She blogs at happyhourprojects.com where the theme is tutorials and recipes that can be made in an hour or less. Her favorite projects are jewelry-making, paper crafts, and recycled crafts. She participates annually in ArtPrize, an international art competition, and she’s the author of the book DIY T-Shirt Crafts: 50 Ways to Recycle a T-Shirt (August 2015).
This looks like fun to make! Love chicken wire on these projects for a rustic look. I may put acorns and pinecones in jar for something different. So many things you could do for the theme. Thanks great idea!
This is so cute! I love the chicken wire shade!
Love this! What a great idea for spring! I love that you can customize it for every holiday and/or season!
I didn’t see how or where the cord is coming from, did you put a hole in the bottom of the jar? I don’t understand how the electric get’s to the bulb? This is a bit confusing? Help?
Hi Susan – if you take a look at the “supply” photo, it’s a better view of the adapter. It screws on like a lid and everything is pre-wired. I just run the cord down the back side of the lamp – no drilling (it’s on the outside). If you like, you can use a piece of tape to hold it down and out of the way. But being a silver cord, it blends well even if you arrange your jar to have empty space (like mine).
Hi Adrienne! I just love this lamp, but I want to make two to use as bedside lamps. Any idea if the chicken wire will stretch that far or will I need two of the?
Thanks so much…you are so very creative!
Lea, I’m sorry I missed your comment until now! I would buy two of the chicken wire. Mainly because, the shape of a shade means you aren’t using a straight rectangle. Also, if you are using any larger of a shade than I used (I did link to the exact shade and jar size above) then you may also need more. I did have excess but as I’m looking at it, I really don’t think its enough to cover another shade since it would need to be wide enough to accommodate the widest point of the shade.
The great thing is, if you end up with extra, the other design team members are using the exact same supplies to come up with their own crafts this month. I bet you’ll find another project you like that uses more chicken wire! 🙂
This lamp is amazing! What a really clever idea, especially the chicken wire on the lamp shade. So cute!
Hi Adrianne,
Thanks so much for the tutorial. I would love to try this project. I was not aware that a lamp kit adaptor was available for a mason. Where can i get one?
thanks,
Maria
Hi Maria – thank you!! You can get all of the supplies I used at Consumer Crafts. This project was actually part of a spring challenge contest, where we had to use a specific set of supplies to create a project (along with any other supplies we wished to use). The lamp kit wasn’t a requirement for the challenge, but I got it here: http://www.consumercrafts.com/store/details/catalog/decor-lamp-making-kits-and-adapters/gj109
In the supply list above, you can actually click the item names to purchase the exact supplies I used for this project (or feel free to put your own spin on it, of course!) I used a wide-mouth jar adapter for the wide-mouth jar, but they also sell small-mouth adapters too!
Oh my gosh your lamp is so wonderful. You show the green burlap ribbon, where did you use that on/in the lamp? So darned cute. You are so smart.
I have a jar, not a mason but a 4 sided square jar I’ve had for years, was made into a lamp. Not a wide mouth jar but think I could get moss, sticks, etc. into jar to make a nest. I have some blue eggs I got at HL last year. Will need to get a lamp shade but I can hardly wait to make this. As soon as I saw this I had to get the jar/lamp out, not exactly like yours but hopefully close enuf. Love this, I love different kinds of lamps so this will be so cute in our room. So glad you shared this project. Happy, Happy Spring
JaneEllen, I confess, I had planned to use it around the jar, but once I put it on I didn’t end up liking how it looked. 😛 The ribbon is SUPER cute, but I just couldn’t fit it into this design, so I took it back off deciding the sisal twine looked better by itself.
What a cute idea!
Very Pretty!