Mellow harsher fluorescent bulbs with natural parchment lanterns.
By Susan Wasinger
Dress Up Fluorescents
Everyone knows that compact fluorescent lights are healthier for the environment, but their cold, bluish, overly bright light doesn’t help to enrich a room’s atmosphere. Try this solution: Envelope the fluorescent bulbs in warm, mellowed parchments, and their glow will become more like an incandescent. An artfully customized paper lantern will do the trick and help the light to cast an ambient glow across an entire room. New smaller, compact fluorescents give off as much light as a 60-watt bulb and use only 13 watts of electricity. This sculptural string of lights provides 360 watts of illumination while using the energy of just 1 standard bulb.
For a great selection of interesting and reasonably priced paper shades, visit www.ShojiDecor.com.
Recycled Glass Chandelier
Have you noticed that glass bottles come in all shapes, sizes, and colors—many too elegant to throw away? Save them from the recycling bin and obtain a great piece of art in the process. Use capped mineral water bottles to make a contemporary candelabra. The beaded finials at the bottom give the chandelier a stylish finish while stoppering the bottle ends and anchoring the candlewicks. A short length of copper pipe can decorate the bottle necks. See the directions provided for an easy way to “cut” bottles.
Enlightening!
Do you have a wine bottle on it’s way to recycling? You can make a great conversation piece while doing your part to recycle a bottle into new lease on life. Drill a large hole in a 6-inch square plywood scrap. Two strips of 1- by 2-inch trim can become feet for the wooden platform. Cut the bottom inch off a clean wine bottle, then stuff a short, 25-bulb string of holiday lights inside. The plug end is sent out the bottom through the hole in the platform. A spare drawer knob can top it all off in style. Voilà—it’s funky, it’s chic, it’s an enlightened centerpiece.
A Lamp to Keep You Company
By day, this shade is a plain, white cube you’d never give a second thought to. But turning it on brings your beloved photos to light. The process is easy: You’ll need digital photos, a computer printer, translucent paper and glue. Just about any lampshade will do, although a cube or rectangular shade is easiest to work with. Compact fluorescent bulbs light the lamp without heating it so the paper and glue stay safely put.
Bottle Cap Art
Sick of rummaging around in the dark basement, trying to find the pull chain for the light? Need a little help? Add a little style and color to the ordinary, and recycle a dozen bottle caps at the same time. These fun, funky pulls could also add a twist of retro-recycle panache to a paper lantern or old porcelain fixture. String them up on string—or try jute, wire, silk cord, or just about anything that pulls your chain. It’s not elegant but it sure is useful!
Recycled Lamp
Can you find a lamp or light fixture around the house that could use a little dressing up? If not, maybe you can find one at a yard sale or in your local thrift store. Then grab a magazine or catalog from the recycling bin and start cutting. You can make a woven shade in no time flat using thin strips of magazine pages. Trusty wire mesh, sometimes called “rabbit fence,” makes it a no-brainer. Choose a palette of like colors; pages printed in yellow, oranges, and creams; pale greens and beige. Don’t restrict yourself to solid color; a splash of contrast here and there or a random photo adds to the drama. Use a loop of wire to hang a sconce over a simple wall fixture sporting a compact fluorescent bulb. A cylinder of woven wire mesh could add the same jazz to a table lamp. Use your imagination and have fun. It’s inexpensive, it’s recycling, it’s fun!
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