China Teaware Lamp

DIY | China Teaware Lamp

diy tealamp view

I’ve seen a few lamps of this kind avai­la­ble in sto­res lately, but they are all a bit pri­cey; it’s clearly a great design that is beg­ging for a DIY ver­sion. So I’m thri­lled to see someone tackle this very feat and with such great results! Sarah Good­win, desig­ner and foun­der of the crea­tive firm Dai­sies & Pearls, crea­ted this cus­tom design for a local bakes­hop — per­haps the most per­fect spot for a por­ce­lain tea­ware lamp.

The har­dest part is sour­cing such lovely por­ce­lain pie­ces, but once you’ve found them, the steps are remar­ka­bly easy. I love the mix­ture of solid white and pat­ter­ned pie­ces, and I’m tem­pted to cha­llenge myself with a floor lamp version!

diy tealamp materials

Mate­rials

  • lamp kit (avai­la­ble at most hard­ware stores)
  • strong cera­mic adhesive
  • tea­ware (cups, sau­cers, tea­pots, etc.)
  • plate with flu­ted edges for the base
  • drill press or corded/battery-operated drill*
  • tile/glass drill bit

Ins­truc­tions

1. Sub­merge each piece of tea­ware in a tub of cool water prior to dri­lling to pre­vent the tile/glass drill bit from over­hea­ting during the dri­lling pro­cess. Care­fu­lly drill a hole in the cen­ter of each piece.

Editor’s note: When dri­lling all the way through a mate­rial, it helps to place the item on top of a piece of scrap wood to pro­tect the sur­face beneath and to pro­vide sup­port for the material.

diy tealamp holecloseup

2. Now that the hard part is over, the design pro­cess can begin. Decide how the tea­ware should be sta­cked, taking in to con­si­de­ra­tion the lamp-kit wiring ins­truc­tions. Begin gluing the pie­ces toget­her. I found that wor­king in sec­tions is best. As the lamp is sta­cked, pull the wire through each section.

diy tealamp wiring

3. Once the adhe­sive is dry, finish the wiring and assem­bly per the lamp kit’s instructions.

diy tealamp complete