DIY Wood Beaded Lamp

If you follow me on social media or read my blogs on a regular basis, then you know I’m all about finding budget-friendly fashion and home décor. And sometimes, that means recreating an expensive item or style. Which is exactly what happened with my new DIY Wood Beaded Table Lamp.

I saw these lamps during a trip to my favorite craft and home décor store. My first thought was, “These would look perfect in our bedroom”. But then I looked at the price tags and thought, “Yikes! Not gonna happen”, immediately followed by, “I bet I could make this myself”.

One of these lamps from the store would have cost around $120. (Although, you can catch it on sale for 50% off). Recreating the look cost me around $60 for two accent sized lamps.

If you want to create your own DIY Wood Beaded Table Lamp, read on for the materials I used and the steps I followed.

 Materials

Lamp Base -I wanted to make two smaller lamps to go on the nightstands in our bedroom so I went with an accent lamp base. I found these white-washed 11” bases at Wal-Mart for around $7 each.

Lamp Shade -Again, since I wanted a smaller lamp, I went with shades that fit an accent lamp. I also managed to pick these up at Wal-Mart for around $8 each. Note: just make sure whatever lampshade you use fits on the lamp in such a way that the wire frame sits above the lightbulb.

Wood Beads -I liked the idea of doing the wood bead strands with graduated sizes of beads, but you could definitely do it with the beads all the same size. Found these beads on Amazon for a better deal than I saw anywhere else. It took two of them to complete both lamps.

Beading Wire -I already had some beading wire laying around so that’s what I used to string the beads. You could also use string.

Twine -I wrapped the hoop in jute to finish off the lamp and hide where the strands were wrapped.

Prep Work

First, strip the fabric from your lampshade so that you’re left with a wire frame. It’s easiest to add each string to the lamp as you finish it (trust me on this, as I ended up having to restring way too many beads before I did it this way). So, go ahead and place the wire piece onto your lamp base. Again, for the beaded strands to hang and create a lampshade, the wire needs to sit above the lightbulb. If the wire frame of your lampshade sits below the blud, just flip it upside down,

Next, you’ll want to determine how long to make you beaded strands. After playing with the number of beads on each strand to ger the look I wanted, I ended up with strands of 7″, 11″, and 15″. Based on the diameter of my accent shades, I chose to do two layers of beaded strands with three sections in each layer and three strands in each section. (See picture for illustration).

String the Beads

As I said above, I chose to do three strands for each section of beads. For my longest strand, I used three beads of each size. For the next strand, I dropped it to two beads and then one bead for the shortest strand.

Once I finished each strand, I went ahead and attached it to the wire frame by wrapping the beading wire tightly around the frame. (Again, attaching them as you go works much better as your less likely to end up restringing errant beads).

For the second layer, attach the ends of your long strands so that they line up directly in the center of the strands on the bottom.

Finishing Touch

Once all the strands of beads are attached, finish it off by wrapping the frame in jute twine to hide the wire. Start by tying the twine around a section of the frame where there is a brace, wrap to hide the knot, and continue.

A few tips to make this part go smoother and faster (it took forever to do this part on the first lamp until I figured). Start with a piece of twine a little more than twice the circumference of the frame. Longer lengths of twine tangle easily and take forever to wrap around the frame. If you need more twine, just tie another piece onto the end of the first and keep going.

My second tip: As you’re pulling the twine through each wrap, pull the end towards the side that’s already been wrapped. It goes much smoother this way and doesn’t get tangled in the beaded strands.

After that, you’re all done! (Though you may need to sweep up a little as the jute does shed some). Add a lightbulb and admire your creation! (I recommend using a lower wattage lightbulb for ambient light or, even better, a vintage bulb.

For more of my affordable DIY projects, check out these blog posts!