October 31, 2017
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We love pumpkins here at I Like That Lamp and we actually found a way to combine it with our passion for DIY lamps. The result is a gorgeous floral pumpkin centerpiece lamp that you can easily make it yourself, using only a couple of supplies, which, fortunately, are widely available in autumn.
The best part is that you can customize your DIY pumpkin lamp any way you want to, again, without much effort. You can change the color of the flowers, go nuts with an awesome Edison lightbulb, or paint and decorate your pumpkin to match your unique style or home decor.
We chose to keep it simple. We took a delicious and beautiful orange pumpkin, yellow Chrysanthemums and an IKEA lamp base one of our colleagues had lying around since college and created this beauty.
Check out our step-by-step tutorial to find out how you could make your own pumpkin floral lamp.
For this project you will need:
Step 1: Cut the top
Cut a hole in the pumpkin, large enough to fit the round base of your lamp. We used a knife, but you can also use a keyhole saw if you’d like to. We didn’t want to cut another hole for the electric cord, but you can, if you want, either on the side or at the bottom.
Step 2: Hollow out your pumpkin
Hollow out the pumpkin and make sure you take out all the seeds and pulp. You can use a spoon, or your hand if you don’t mind feeling the insides of the pumpkin.
Step 3: Clean the pumpkin exterior
Now that you’ve scooped out all the seeds and pulp, clean the pumpkin exterior. We used a wet napkin and it did the work just fine.
Step 4: Wrap the lamp in plastic foil
We didn’t want to cut another hole into the pumpkin, so we stuck the electric cord to the lamp base and wrapped everything in plastic foil. Then we used adhesive tape to secure everything just to make sure the electric part is safe from the humidity inside the pumpkin or from any potential water drops that might leak from the wet floral foam.
Step 5: Add the lamp in your pumpkin
Now that your lamp is covered in plastic foil and it’s all secured, add it into your pumpkin. Check to make sure the base on which it sits, is leveled.
Step 6: Prepare the container for the floral foam
For our floral foam container, we actually recycled a takeaway salad plate, made from plastic. We chose it because it was flexible, easy to cut and mold and we got to actually recycle something.
We had to adjust it a couple of times until we got the right size for our pumpkin. Keep in mind that this container has to wrap around your lamp base too, so try your best to keep your cuttings clean and not pointy. To prevent the plastic container from cutting through the plastic foil and possibly damaging the electric cord, you can cover the rim with adhesive tape.
Once you found the right size for your pumpkin opening, use a stapler to join the overlapping parts of the plastic container and adhesive tape to secure it to the pumpkin.
Step 7: Cut the floral foam brick
Normally, the floral foam should be wet first and then carved to fit the container, but since we’re not florists and didn’t have any instructions on how to use it, we chose the harder path. So, learn from our mistakes, and wet first, then carve.
Take the floral foam brick and cut it with a knife into a shape that will fit your base. We made a mess doing that and wasn’t really prepared for the awful sound that foam makes when it is cut. We eventually cut the brick in two pieces and carved out a semicircle on one side of each of those two pieces. That way, the foam pieces would wrap around my lamp base.
The rule of thumb in floral arrangements it to use floral foam 2 or 3 inches higher than the rim of the container to make it easier to add in the flower stems.
Step 8: Wet the floral foam
Place your foam pieces in a recipient with cold water and turn them on all sides to make sure they get wet. You need the floral foam to be damp, rather than dripping with water. Once they’re soaked in, add them to the base in the pumpkin and secure them around the lamp with a cord or some string, just to make sure it stays in place. You can also use floral adhesive tape to attach it to its container.
Step 9: Add the flower stems
It’s time for the fun part: adding the gorgeous flowers, which are basically the cherry on top.
Cut your flower stems at a sharp angle so that they will slide easily into the foam. The length of your stems should go in around 2 inches, so take that into account when you make the cut. Also, don’t forget, you will be adding stems on all sides, so if you’re using flowers with tiny buds, take into account that the stems will eventually meet in the floral foam.
The general rule is that once you poked a hole through the floral foam, you don’t go back. So if you find you’ve missed your target, or if your flower stem is weak or crooked, just use a wooden pick to secure it in place. These picks come with a wire that is wrapped around the flower stem and the pick itself to make sure nothing gets loose.
Step 10: Plug it in
Now that you have your flowers in place, it’s time to step back and enjoy your beautiful pumpkin lamp flower centerpiece. Put it by a window or in your bedroom and enjoy the beautiful autumn theme, the perky, colorful flowers, and the intimate (romantic?) light.
If you're wiring a new base, you can also add a harp to your lamp. Since the lamp base, we used in this tutorial was from IKEA, we couldn't attach a harp. But we bet it would look really nice.
You can also add a lampshade to this type of pumpkin lamp, but we suggest you use a smaller pumpkin or a taller base. Getting the proportions right will help 'pull together' the overall lamp. You can learn how to measure your lamp to find the perfect-sized lampshade right here.
We’re hoping to keep this DIY pumpkin lamp alive until Thanksgiving Day. It’s going to make for a unique and awe-inspiring decoration, or why not, even a table centerpiece. If you’re planning to make your own lamp using a real pumpkin as a base, we’d love to see your projects. Tag us on Instagram (@ilikethatlamp) or send us the pics at hello[a]ilikethatlamp.com. We love it when our lamp loving community reaches out to us and we get to share projects.
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