Let There Be Light!!

DIY Rope Wrapped Swag Light

By Mandi 12/21/2016

Hey guys!!

Man, thanks for all of the love on Aspyn’s room makeovers, it was such a fun project and I’m so glad that you guys love it!! Lets get started with the tutorials shall we? Up first is the rope wrapped swag light. I have been DYING to do this project for months and just hadn’t gotten around to it. Aspyn’s living room was the perfect place because she only had one overhead light and we didn’t have loads of room for end tables + table lamps.

To make this light you’ll need two wire lampshades from the thrift store that are the same size. The uglier the better (cause I’m on a mission to rid the world of offensive shades and together WE CAN DO IT!!!) The one thing that you need to make sure of is that it has a wire skeleton inside. There are a lot of shades that are made with rigid plastic, those won’t work.

When you remove the fabric/plastic coverings this is what you should have:

The next step is to use a strong adhesive to glue the shades together. I used e6000, but anything that can work on metal will be perfecto!

I used small clamps to hold the shades while the glue set (totally optional)

And then wrapped it with floral wire. Don’t stress if you don’t have clamps, just wrap it with the wire from the get go and it will be great!

The next step is to start wrapping your rope. I used white Masonry line from Home Depot. It has a little bit of a sheen and looks so good! I used 5 spools of it (which I was SHOCKED about). When I was wrapping it I put it over the outside of the wire wrapped section every time I passed over it.

Turn on your favorite show and go to town! Total wrapping time was about 2.5 hours.

Once it was wrapped, I used a hot glue gun to secure the places that I had to start the rope so that it wouldn’t shift or slide.

Up next is to install the light kit. Just follow the instructions on the packaging and attach it to the center of your lamp shade!

To add a little bit of flair I made a tassel and added wooden beads. I would have loved to wire it to be a pulldown chain but I don’t love the idea of constantly pulling on a light that is hanging from the ceiling, so I just tied it to the top of the shade and its adorable and totally not functional. 😉

So cute right?! If you make this project make sure you tag me on Insta, I would LOVE to see it!!

Here’s everything you need to DIY your own:

10 thoughts on “DIY Rope Wrapped Swag Light”

  1. What a creative idea! any for those lovely Hollywood vanity lights, without removing them?

  2. That blush pink sofa is perfection! Please, please, please tell me where it’s from?!?!

  3. Hi! Love your work. Can you tell us when you think that you’ll do the overhead light tutorial. I have a vaulted ceiling. do you think it would still work for me/ Thanks!!

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