Plastic Cup Lamp

You would never believe that this modern and beautiful lamp is a do-it-yourself project simply made out of large plastic cups! First you will need 200-250 large, recyclable plastic cups. As someone who just got out of college, I know from experience that you could probably collect enough cups for this project by gathering used cups from people’s houses and washing them. This is especially beneficial if you anyone who hosts parties but doesn”t take the time to recycle the left over cups! You will also need a stapler and 600-700 staples (staples hold better and longer than any kind of adhesive), and a lamp socket, cord and plug (you can either get this from an old, broken lamp or you can buy them several places including online from amazon.com), and a ribbon to hang it. To begin, it is easiest to staple as you go along so take two cups and staple them side by side toward the top of their rims. Continue this process until you have a large ring shape (the bottoms of the cups should face the center of the, and the top rims should face the outside. This first ring will act as the middle line of cups so obviously the more cups you use to create this ring, the larger your lamp will be. After you have created this first ring of cups, continue the same process while stapling the new ring of cups on top of the first ring—each subsequent ring will have fewer cups than the previous. Once you only have a few cups missing from the top and bottom of the sphere, carefully staple the last few cups into the holes leaving a hole for the last top and last bottom cups. Before stapling in the last cup on the top, cut a small hole in the bottom of the cup, fold the ribbon in half and take the two loose ends through the hole in the cup, tying a large knot to catch the ribbon from slipping through the hole. You should have a long, loop of ribbon coming throw the inside of the cup to hang your lamp from the ceiling. Staple the last top cup in place. In the last cup for the bottom of the lamp, cut a slot big enough to slide the socket half way in and secure the socket in place. Twist in a light bulb (it should be coming out of the bottom of the cup) and insert the light bulb and last cup into the sphere, and staple. To view step-by-step directions, please visit the original blog that posted this project: http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2hFgLM/www.bit-of-green.com/crafts/crafts-plastic-cup-lamp

The finished product is beautiful and totally worth the time it takes to complete the project. Let us know if you have found any other ideas to re-use plastic cups!

Written by: Karly Poole