We’ve had this wastepaper basket for a few years.  It’s so pretty but no one sees it sitting in a guest bathroom corner plus the bottom had fallen out.  Time to replace it with something else and re-purpose the pretty can.

True Value sells lamp kits – this one was around $11.  Lamps can be made out of pretty much anything.  We used the wastepaper basket and a plastic charger that I already had (Michael’s).

1.  Mark the center of the charger and drill a hole big enough for a cord.

2.  Drill a hole into the back side of the wastepaper basket big enough for a cord.

3.  Following the instructions, we inserted the lamp nipple through the charger and secured with the adapter on the bottom and lock nut on the top.

4.  Put the check ring on top of the lock nut.

5.  Put the harp on top of the check ring.

6.  Unscrew the set screw a bit from the socket cap and screw the socket cap to the lamp nipple.

7.  Insert the wire end of the cord through the hole in the wastepaper basket.

8.  Pull through the lamp nipple in the charger.

9.  Insert wire end of cord through the socket cap and pull through so there’s enough room to work with it.

11.  Insert socket shell into socket cap and tighten set screw.

12.  Add harp top if you took it off during this process.

13.  Glue charger to top of wastepaper basket.

All done!  Add a bulb and shade.

What do you think?

Have you attempted to DIY a lamp?  A lot easier than it sounds, isn’t it?