How to : Junks to Lightings

Over at the blog Web Ecoist they have put together a great collection of repurposing of objects into some really great lighting designs. The variety of designs goes from super simple to very intricate all super cleaver and interesting.

To spruce up a string of ‘fairy lights’, all you really need is a cardboard egg carton and some scissors. Esprit Cabane created this lovely set of flower-shaped light covers which, when trimmed and fitted over the lights, give a warm, cozy effect. Use LED lights only to prevent this pretty DIY light project from turning into a fire hazard.

Chiquita Banana Chandelier

(images via: Inhabitat)

You wouldn’t think that a couple dozen Chiquita banana cardboard cartons would make a chic chandelier, but somehow, designer Anneke Jacobs has achieved just that. She created this colorful design, which casts subtle ambient lighting, while a student at the Utrecht School of Product Design.

Modern Lights from Glass Bottles

(images via: jerrykott.com)

Wine bottle lamps are a popular DIY projects, but they aren’t always pretty and certainly can’t be called modern. This interpretation, however, ditches the cheesy Italian restaurant vibe with a simple silhouette and blocks of color. Each hanging Khrysalis light fixture comes with a frosted bulb that flickers slightly, much like the fluttering of a butterfly about to leave the chrysalis, thus the name.

Water Bottle Chandelier

(images via: Treehugger)

Plastic water bottles are like a plague upon the earth. They litter highways, meadows and bodies of water – and since people aren’t likely to give them up any time soon, some intrepid designers have taken to finding creative new ways to reuse them. This chandelier by Stuart Haygarth is both beautiful and functional, taking hundreds of plastic bottles out of the waste stream.

Gold Toy Lamp

(images via: ryanmcelhinney.com)

When you’ve got a giant pile of unwanted toys, you could take the artistic approach and glue them all together to create a lamp base. At least, that’s what designer Ryan McElhinney has done with the ‘Gold Toy Lamp’, in which dozens of figurines are bonded together and coated in a high-gloss gold polyurethane  lacquer.

Ballpoint Pen Chandelier

(images via: Core 77)

The Volivik Lamp by En Pieza is constructed almost entirely of Bic ballpoint pens strung onto circular forms. It comes in both orange and clear versions, but as you can see, the clear pens really allow the light to sparkle and shine in a way that rivals even expensive crystal chandeliers.

Cocktail Umbrella Lamp

(images via: Bright Lights Little City)

The next time you attend a tropical-themed party, gather up as many of those silly little drink umbrellas so you can make your own version of this ‘Happy Hour’ lamp. The hanging lamp, based on an award-winning prototype by the Rhode Island School of Design, features cocktail umbrellas sprayed in a protective lacquer and finished with a fire retardant spray.

Plastic Spoon Chandelier

(images via: Ann Porter)

As long as there are picnics, there will be plastic utensils. Disposable tableware is a bane to the environment, but this unusual project ensures that hundreds of plastic spoons avoid the trash bin. The 22” x 16” chandelier by Studio Verissimo of Portugal looks like an expensive Lucite fixture – you don’t realize what you’re looking at until you get up close.

Jelene‘s pal thinks you can even make lampshades out of used cans…