If you are wanting your lighting to be a bit out of the ordinary and personalized, this is the tutorial for you. What you will need for this project is; screwdriver, drill motor and bits, saw, adjustable knob, wire nuts, electrician's tape, electrical connector, light bulbs, light bulb sockets, sand paper, electrical wire and epoxy glue.




1) You will need to fin a wooden box to start this lamp. You can find exotic looking and useful items for this at a thrift shop. You may be able to find one for under ten dollars.



2) Design holes for the box by marking out the spots for the holes. For this project the box will have four light bulbs, so we will make four holes. Drill the holes one size larger than the bulbs and then use sandpaper to smooth out the rough edges. Drill a larger slot in the middle of the box for decoration. In this case the decoration of the lamp will use fake wheat grass. Drill the holes for the bulbs in a regular four-corner way and then put the slot in the middle.



3) Cut a plank of wood to fit inside the box. The light bulb sockets will mount on this plank ( bracket ) inside the box. The bracket will also have holes for the wires of the sockets. The wires will protrude through the bracket and then connect through the box and on to the electricical conector. After cutting the bracket to fit inside the box, reach through the holes in box with a pencil or marker and make marks on the bracket. These are for drilling holes to hold the light bulb sockets. When you are through marking and cutting holes for the sockets, install the sockets into these holes. Secure them with some epoxy glue so they will not move. Install the wires underneath the sockets for power and connect them to the sockets. The wires can be knotted under the sockets to make them more secure. Install the assembled bracket with some wood glue inside the box.




4) Prepare the wires for the switch by stripping all the wires that come from the sockets. You will need to route the eight wires from the sockets into the switch and connect them in parallel. You can do this with wire nuts. If your switch has a single connector for each wire coming from the wall outlet, attach one side of all the sockets to this. Use the other connector for the rest of the wires coming from the sockets.



5) The false wheat grass will go into its slot from the top of the box. Cut it to the right length and tape it together on the bottom and the sides. Put it into its slot and check to see if any of the grass or tape touches the bulbs. If not you can go to the next step.



6) Attach the switch to the outside of the box in a hidden place with epoxy glue. Let the glue dry. Screw in your light bulbs and plug in the new lamp. You are done.




Be sure to use low wattage bulbs with your new lamp so as to prevent a fire. If you notice the lamp gets hot, use even lower wattage bulbs.