How to Make Twig Lamps

Bring a little rustic forest into your home with a twig lamp.

Creating a twig lampshade can give a new look to an old lamp. This can be particularly attractive with driftwood lamps, but can be used with any natural or earth tone lamp. The twigs can be obtained from tree trimmings.

Things You'll Need

• Pruning cutters
• Old wire-framed lampshade
• Cloth measuring tape
• String
• Sticks about one inch in diameter
• Table saw
• Clamp on vise
• Variable-speed drill
• Small drill bit
• Wooden beads
• Copper wire
• Needle-nosed pliers
• gloves (optional)

Instructions

Preparing Materials

1. Collect the materials. You will need an old lamp that has a rustic look and an old lampshade that has a wire frame. For this project, you will want slender branches, about one inch diameter and long enough to reach from the top of your old lamp shade to the bottom. Yard trimmings, brush heaps, fallen limbs or unwanted sprouts are good places to get materials for twig construction. Depending on how rustic you would like to have the finished product, you may or may not wish to trim away the extra limbs. You will also need large wooden beads and copper craft wire. Wooden beads can be purchased from a craft store and some home improvement shops. Artistic copper wire can be found in most craft stores. You may also be able to find it at surplus or manufacturing stores.

2. Use a dress-makers cloth measuring tape or use a piece of string to measure the circumference of (distance around) the top of the lamp shade. Note the length on the tape or make a knot in the string. Lay the measuring device, stretched out, on a level surface.

3. Measure the lampshade from top to bottom. Cut the pieces of twig the correct length to reach from top to bottom of the lampshade. As you cut them, lay them length-wise with the tips resting on the tape measure or string, leaving one large wooden bead space between each. Continue this process till you have enough twigs to go all the way across the measuring object, and a couple of extras for just in case.

4. Mount the vise on a workbench or other secure surface, using manufacturer's directions. Use the vise to hold twigs securely while drilling a hole in each end. The holes should be large enough to thread two thicknesses of your copper wire through them at the same time. If you have left small branches on the twigs, make sure they are pointing in the same direction as the holes, to insure that they do not poke into the lamp, near the bulb or out where they can poke people or objects.

5. Strip the old cover from the lampshade. Buff away or touch up any rough spots on the remaining wire frame. Cut one piece of copper wire that is three times the circumference (distance around) the top wire of the lampshade. Cut one piece of copper wire that is three times the circumference of the bottom of the lampshade.

Assemble the parts

1. Attach one end of the copper wire that corresponds to the top wire of the lampshade frame to the top rim, near one of the connecting upright wires. The easiest way to do this is to bend about one half inch of the end of the copper wire over the top of the lampshade frame, and wrap it around the lampshade wire.

2. Thread one end of a twig (using the pre-drilled hole) on the copper wire. Slide it down the wire until it fits snugly against the frame. Secure by wrapping the wire around the frame once. Thread a bead on to the copper wire. Slide it down till it is snug against the frame and the stick. Secure by wrapping the wire once around the frame. Continue this process all the way around the top frame of the lampshade. Thread the copper wire back through the twigs and the beads, as if you were threading beads for a necklace. Secure the end, and trim off any excess wire.

3. Compare the length of the circumference of the top rim to the circumference of the bottom ring of the lampshade frame. If they are the same, you will simply repeat Step 2 around the bottom rim of the lampshade. If, as is often the case, the bottom rim is bigger than the top, you will need to make some changes. Options may be to simply add two beads between each twig, or to add a longer bead. Or you may wish to add two small beads on each side of the original size of bead.

4. Attach a copper wire to the bottom rim of the lampshade, in the same manner as the wire on the top rim. Thread it through a twig, being careful to make it go straight down from the top rim to the bottom, and secure it to the bottom rim. Thread the bead or beads on the wire that will hold the next twig the correct distance from the first. Secure the bead or beads by wrapping the wire once around the rim. Thread the copper wire through the next twig, and repeat, all the way around the bottom rim. Thread the remaining copper wire back through all the twigs and beads, as you did for the top rim. Secure the end and trim off any excess wire.

Optional Finishing Touches

1. Cut shapes from birch or sycamore bark and glue them to the outside of the twig shade using carpenter's glue.

2. Thread bark or vines through the twigs to create a woven-basket effect.

3. Dangle copper or wood ornaments from the bottom rim of the shade, using leftover copper wire.

Tips & Warnings

• If you do not have property of your own, always get permission before gathering craft supplies.

References

• Conscious style home: eco-friendly living for the 21st century : A Twig Lampshade
• "Making rustic twig furniture", by Bim Willow, 2009.
• "Making Twig Furniture and Household Things", by Abby Ruoff, 1999.