Home Decor
Hanging Lights Made Using Metal Fruit Baskets
I love my apartment, but there were places where I wished there were more light fixtures. I solved this issue by picking up some metal fruit baskets from Dollarama and pairing them with remote controlled puck lights and metal plant hangers from Dollar Tree.
Before I go further, credit where credit is due! I got the basic idea for this idea from a fellow Hometalker, Melanie. Click the link to see the cute outdoor lights she made!
Read on to see my take on hanging lights made using metal fruit baskets.
*Please Note: I can no longer recommend the Electra brand puck lights from Dollarama. After using them for a while, I discovered that the batteries continue to drain even when the light isn’t in use.
Dining Room Bling
Supplies Used:
- metal fruit basket in silver (Dollarama)
- metal plant pot hanger (Dollar Tree)
- 2 packages 3/4-inch clear acrylic gems (Dollar Tree)
- 1 jar of 1/2-inch clear acrylic gems (Dollarama)
- spray paint
- puck light (Dollar Tree)
- hot glue
These metal fruit baskets come in three colours; gold, rose gold and silver. Because this light was going to be in proximity to another light fixture that was silver and hung with clear acrylic gems, I chose the silver basket for this project.
This is the remote controlled puck light I used for the hanging lights made using metal fruit baskets . This one came from Dollarama. I no longer recommend these, because they tend to drain the batteries even when turned off. Similar ones are available on Amazon.
When hot gluing the gems to the basket, make sure your glue gun is set on “high” temperature. I forgot and ended up having to re-glue some of the gems. These gems have a flat side as well as a faceted one, which makes it easy to glue them onto the basket. I started out thinking that I was going to add gems to every line on the basket but soon realized that wouldn’t be possible or even necessary.
Each of 16 sections held 8 gems each. It took about an hour to do.
Next, I glued the 1/2-inch acrylic gems to the bottom rim of my light fixture. This took another 1/2 hour. I don’t know how many of these I used, but I didn’t use even a quarter of the amount in the jar they came in.
I spray painted the plant pot hanger silver and attached each of the three hooks near the top on the bare sections. If you count ten sections over from each hook, the light should hang more or less evenly. By placing the hooks near the top of the light, rather that on the bottom rim, it hangs down a bit lower over my dining room table.
Because the acrylic gems made my light heavier than it would normally be, I wanted to be sure I hung it securely from the ceiling. I got a package of two hooks with butterfly anchors for under five bucks at my local hardware store.
Here’s what my new light fixture looks like after I hung it up.
It’s hard to see in this picture, but when it’s lit up, the gems sparkle, as you would expect them to. I’m really quite pleased with how this project turned out!
Workspace Lighting
Another place I wanted more light was over my craft desk. Here’s how I solved that problem using two more metal fruit baskets.
Supplies Used:
- 2 gold coloured wire baskets (choose whatever colour suits your decor)
- 2 puck lights (Dollar Tree)
- 2 plant pot hangers
The enclosed centre of these metal baskets are the perfect diameter for adding puck lights.
This time, I didn’t add any additional embellishments. I simply spray painted the plant pot holders gold and attached them to the base of the upside down fruit basket, spacing them approximately ten sections apart.
I didn’t want these lights to hang too low, because the ceiling over my work space is lower than in other parts of the apartment.
Again, butterfly anchors will ensure that the lights stay put.
These two hanging lights made using metal fruit baskets are just what I needed to shed more light on my work space!
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