Tales from Green Table Drive: Fri-e-day, Fri-e-day...

As excited as I was for Brian to go back to work, I am equally excited that today is Friday and he will be home for the weekend. I've officially hit 30 weeks in this pregnancy and I am not sleeping well, at all! Maybe I'll be able to sleep in a little tomorrow...here's to hoping!

Today I was determined to finish this light fixture that has consumed my life for the past 3 days...AND I DID! I love it! I can't wait to get it up tomorrow and see what it looks like lit! We stopped by Ikea and got the light that goes inside of it and it should be up tomorrow!

I have seen these fixtures all over Pinterest. I didn't try to reinvent the wheel, or anything, but I will say that the tutorials have been lacking in, well, instructions. So I'm hoping to fix that with a quick tutorial for all those who want to learn! I will post the instructions at the end of the post so those who don't care to learn can skip it!

We don't have a solid plan for the weekend, but it is supposed to be beautiful outside, so the Relph family will be getting some much needed vitamin D!

Lastly, my Grandma fell and hit her head and suffered a concussion. I do not know a lot of details but I know they are still running tests as to why she fell in the first place. Say a little prayer for her that it is nothing serious!

Coffee Filter Light Fixture Tutorial

These are the materials that you need:

Paper Lantern (this is the one I have)

Coffee Filters (I used 1200...yes, 1200!)

Glue Gun

Glue

Burn Relief (see side note below)

Lots and LOTS of time and patience

I also suggest a good show to watch while you do this :)

When I started this I went about it the wrong way. I took a single filter, folded it, glued it, and repeat. Let me tell you a secret...prepare a whole bunch of filters before you even turn on the glue gun! It will save time and it's easier to get 'into a groove' when you are just grabbing, gluing, and placing!

There are a lot of ways people fold their filters. Some twist the bottom, others fold in halves, quarters, eights, and some don't fold at all. I decided to fold mine into fourths...but I only folded the bottom part! I wanted to make sure the top portion (the scallop-y part that looks like ruffles) stayed loose and soft so I only folded the bottom triangle. Here are two pictures of what I mean:

I made sure the filters were curved as well...it makes it a lot easier to place on the lantern.

Now grab your glue gun! I placed a pea size glob of glue on the tip of the filter on the bottom side. I had my filters curving upward but I've seen people place them sideways and upside down as well...it's up to you!

Next place the filters! You want them super close...which is why 1200 filters became necessary. There was truly no rhyme or reason where I placed the filters. I just tried to do a stack effect...a picture will help a lot more than my explanation...

This project seriously takes forever...but don't give up...because it ends up looking like this:

When we finally get it up and lit I will take more pictures and explain how we did it (as of now I have no clue how we are doing it :)). On a side note, you may also want some aloe or neosporin around. I have SO MANY blisters all over my hands from multiple glue gun burns. It happens...and I promise even if you are careful you will probably get burnt at least once...better to have supplies on hand!

Finally, we have great neighbors back home and they are letting us know about our home. Apparently our home is sinking to China...here's a picture to demonstrate :).