Richard Felt: DIY Glass and Himmeli Pendant Light

Hello Remodelaholics! It’s Corey from TinySidekick and I’m thrilled to be back to share some more DIY goodness that will hopefully inspire you to take on some (not as scary as you might think) electrical work!

You all gave me such a warm welcome when I shared the DIY tufted headboard that we made for my mom’s master bedroom so I couldn’t wait to push my own DIY creativity and come up with something extra good for you all.

Today we are heading into the guest room at my house. This was one of the first rooms I did in our home, and I hate to say it, but until today it didn’t have a proper light (which is why I’ve never shared it on my blog, but that will change soon.) There was a lamp on the side table next to the bed, but if you had to go into this room at night you literally had to walk across the room in the pitch black and feel around for the light. I’m sure my mother in law was secretly wishing we would put an actual light in there. I guess she’ll be in for a sweet surprise the next time she comes to visit because we officially have a light! And it turns on with the switch! Go us!

I guess my reason for not getting a light in here sooner was a lot based on the fact that I knew the look I wanted, but everything I saw that fit the bill was pretty expensive. I created a tripod floor lamp from scratch awhile back so I guess it was time to tackle another DIY lighting project.

How to Make a Glass + Himmeli Pendant Light

For this project you will need…

A glass hurricane or bowl
A pendant light kit (the one I used is small with a candelabra base- like you would use to add individual pendants over an island.)
- If you aren’t hard wiring it, you will get a light kit with a long wire that you can plug in and you will need ceiling hooks too.
1/8 inch brass tube (you can find this easily online or at a hobby shop that carries remote control car supplies.) The amount of tube you will need will depend on the size of your himmeli structure in the middle.
24 gauge wire (cut to about 4-5 times the length of all your tube pieces combined)
(maybe) some spray paint if you don’t like the color of the existing cord and/or light kit.
a hack saw or Dremel tool

I originally found a large glass hurricane that I was going to drill a hole in. But when I was at Home Goods recently I found this beauty that already had a hole in it. So I grabbed it and returned the other one. Drilling a hole in glass is totally doable, but it was one less step for me and they were about the same price. No brainer!

The first thing I did was plan out the size and shape that I wanted my himmeli art to be based on the size of the inside of my hurricane. Mine (the himmeli) is about 9 inches long and about 4 inches across.

I cut 4 of each size: 7 inches, 4 inches, 3 inches. You will also need 4 small pieces to create a box around the top where you will connect it to your light kit. So measure the width of where your light bulb will go and cut 4 pieces that length.

I started out using the hack saw, but switched to the Dremel which was so much faster. (Safety first! Wear protective eye gear so you don’t end up with a metal splinter in your eyeball!)

Now you are ready to create your geometric structure. On my first try I used wire that was too thick. It didn’t work because you will need to be able to pass the wire through the same tube 2 or maybe even 3 times. The 24 gauge worked perfectly.

Start by creating one side of your structure and slide the pieces on in that order. Then holding all the pieces close together, bend your wire till you get the shape of your first side. Loop the wire around your starting point to hold it in place.

Then add the remaining sides to the next side of your structure and bend into place. If you find that you have ended up on the wrong side just go through the tube till you end up where you need to be to add more.

Repeat this until you have the 4 sides of the top portion of the diamond.

Now it’s time to add the bottom. (This is the part where I wish I would have used longer pieces so that it created more of a point on my finished product.)

Feed your wire through the tubes so that you end up at the bottom of your existing structure and add 2 bottom pieces (mine were 3 inches.) Then bend it and feed it through to the other side and add 2 more so that you create a point in the middle.

Then you will want the wire to be coming out that point and feed it through to the opposite triangle in order to hold that middle point together tightly.

Once you are done you can feed the wire back up to your starting point, loop it around itself a few times and cut off the excess.

Ready to put our pendant light together?

I sprayed my light kit gold so that it would go better with the look I was going for. It was black before. The light kit should come with a washer and a nut to hold a shade in place. You will use the nut to hold your himmeli structure in place.

Place the socket into the square that you created at the top of your geometric structure. Then carefully tighten the nut to hold it in place. Don’t worry if it looks a little wonky at this point. You can straighten it out later.

Finally, feed the ceiling side of your wire through your hurricane and pull it into place.

Follow the instructions that came with your pendant light kit to attach it securely to the ceiling. And that’s it!

I have to say, I love how this light turned out. I wanted something that made a statement with just a little bit of glam and the brass in the center is just the right touch.