Teapot Lamps

A couple of days ago I showed you the door nightstand/bookshelf I made for Jan, one of my local readers. Yesterday I showed you how to drill through glass/china. Today I’m going to share with you two teapot lamps I made for her.

I drilled holes in a bunch of glass pieces. More tips on drilling china here, I also show you how I spray painted a lamp so the pieces match.

Carefully Drill Holes In Teacups and Saucers

You can see some painter’s tape on the glass pieces. We used the leftover tape from the window panes to mark the order of the pieces after we got them stacked. By the way, that is NOT Jan in the brown shirt… it’s just a kid from the neighborhood. They always stop by to see what I’m working on.

Begin stacking china pieces to get the look you want for your teacup lamp

Note the hole in the bottom piece. That hole is for the electrical cord.

The writing on the tape is 8G, 9G, etc. Meaning these pieces were for the Green lamp.

At this point I was just re-stacking them after I completed a few more holes.

It’s a lot like making glass totems. Another project where gail stacks bits and pieces. I’m telling you, I must not have played with enough blocks as a child.

Teapot Lamps use Cups and Saucers of all sizes and colors

Do you see the mason jar lid? I thought I might need to use that for the top to get a tight fit. It was not needed.

The lamp is not wired yet.

How to secure the china pieces for your teapot lamp

This is project #2, the blue lamp. You can see the Dap Silicone Sealant   I used to “glue” this one together. I used Silicone in a caulk gun on the glass totems. But for this project, I was looking for something easier and simple. I bought mine  at Home Depot.

I really like how we put the one cup upside down on the other, don’t you?

Here they are side, by side.

How to cut down a lamp rod when making a teapot lamp

When Jan picked up the lamp kit, she got the kind with threads all the way down. In my opinion, this is the best way to go. There were two rods that connect with that neat little connector there in the middle. Once connected, the rod was too tall for the “stack” of glass pieces. I used my jigsaw to cut the rod down to size.

Use caution when rewiring a repurposed teapot lamp

This is why I didn’t have to use the mason jar lid. Because the threads go all the way down the rod, I was able to screw a washer/nut all the way down to get a tight fit with the top piece (cup). I then  wired and screwed the socket in place. Because this is not my lamp, I suggested that Jan’s husband check the wiring and even rewire it himself. (I don’t want to burn their house down)  I know my limits and I am not very knowledgeable about electricity and wiring.

How to wire a teacup or teapot lamp

Okay, in this picture I’m going to show you my “oops”. As I was drilling the pieces, I accidentally drilled a side hole in the large plate thinking it was going on the bottom. I had forgotten that we had decided to put this small bowl as the base. I glued it so that this hole will be toward the back of the lamp. In all honesty, the blue plate is rather “busy” so hopefully it won’t be noticed.

You can see that you need a side hole in order for your cord to have an exit. You can also see that I used a washer and a nut to hold the bottom of the rod in place.

Which is your favorite? The blue or the green? Once Jan gets them home and dresses them up with a couple of shades, I’ll be sure to update this post with properly staged after pictures.
I worked on wiring my lamp, but I have lost one of the parts. I’ll have to pick up a new socket (and a shade).

Love unique lamps? Check out my repurposed coffee pot lamp and other repurposed light ideas , plus repurposed glassware project ideas

gail