Hard Lighting

We were all inspired to make lamps for the concrete challenge as we wanted our creations to each reflect our own interests and personalities. The first lamp is unconventional in its shape, but functions very much like a table lamp or night stand lamp. We made it from two plastic bowls and a glass jar. We opted for colored concrete because we wanted the lamp to uniquely stand apart from the standard grey concrete creations. This lamp was created in a two-step process. We had to first mix the concrete and pour it in one bowl with the jar fixated to the bottom of the bowl with hot glue. Once that dried, we had to mix concrete in the second bowl and attach styrofoam between the two bowls to allow for the glass jar to be seen. After they both dried, we removed the bowls, cut a hole through the metal jar top and dropped in the light bulb. Voila! The lamp was complete.

The next two lamps were made slightly different. Instead of two bowls, we used two plastic bottles. These lamps are meant for hanging. After pouring the concrete between the bottles that were joined together by their tops, we allowed the concrete to dry. Once dry, we had to remove the plastic bottles which turned out to be much more difficult than the lamp bowl project. We had to use a heat gun and a lot of force to rip out the plastic from inside the concrete to create a hole for the light bulb cord. Once created, we had to cut the lamp cord in two and string it through the hole. We mended the lamp cord wires with duct tape and screwed in the light bulb to finish. Voila again! Two lamps that are distinctly different, but serve the same purpose.