DIY Coffee Filter Light

What do you with 200 coffee filters, a paper lantern, and a glue gun.  Well aside from some sort of Project Runway challenge, you could make this awesome pom pom light! 

I first saw this idea from Kara Paslay Designs and was instantly intrigued.  It reminded me of this capiz lotus flower light that I found here:

Awesome, right… yeah but who has $300 to shell out for a trendy light fixture… Not me.  So, when Kara Paslay finally released her secret to this awesome light—coffee filters, I was eager to try my own version.  Luckily coffee filters are super cheap.  Throw in a little (okay a lot) hot glue, a small paper lantern, and a corded light kit = Success!  All for under $20 bucks!  Mine cost me only $2 for coffee filters since I already had hot glue, and a paper lantern leftover from my sister’s wedding.

I started with a 12” lantern and used all my 200 coffee filters with 1/3 of the lantern left to cover.  That’s when I realized that my lantern was going to be huge.  12” base + 3” fluffy filters on both sides was coming out way too big for the space.  So, I begrudgingly ripped all the filters off the first lantern (thus rendering it shredded… and garbage… casualty of DIY gone wrong.)  After procuring a second smaller lantern (this one about 9”) I reglued all the puffs.  200 was almost perfect!  I have a few spots that need another puff or two, but I figured it was good enough to try it out!

Here it is, in its new home… our newly decorated guest room!  And luckily I found a way to disguise most of the cord behind the curtain!  The only problem I haven’t overcome yet is how to turn it on more easily.  The cord has a little switch on it, but unfortunately that part ended up behind the bed… annoying but not impossible... maybe I should get one of these.  By day, it looks like a cool pom pom hanging from the ceiling.  Very fluffy and textural.

   

It gives off a soft glow during the day…

And really lights up the room at night…

I love it!  Makes me want to lay on the guest bed and stare at the pretty fluffy texture all night.  :) 

What do you think?  I figure if I get tired of it in here or “some people” deem it too trendy, tacky, or strange, it will make an awesome night light for our someday nursery. :)

Hope you all are enjoying this holiday weekend… I’ll be back with more updates in here as soon as our upholstered headboard is finished!