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Friday, April 4, 2014

DIY Pottery Barn Mia Faceted-Crystal Flushmount/ Refab a Boob Light



We all have those blasted boob lights. I have 4 that I wanted to replace, but with my low ceilings, I needed something close to the ceiling. As I was shopping the Pottery Barn website, I came across the Mia Faceted-Crystal Flushmount Light. It was lovely, but for $129 a piece, I'd be shelling out way more than I could stomach for 4 of them, even if I waited for a sale.

As I was admiring it, I noticed it was constructed very similarly to the boob lights I already had. I had a long string of acrylic crystals left over from redoing my dining room light, so I decided to DIY!!

Materials used:
Boob light
Can of oil rubbed bronze spray paint
Nail and Hammer or Dremmel tool with metal drill bit
String of acrylic crystals (affiliate link)
Measuring tape
Optional: yarn or string to help measure circumference
Optional: Sharpie


There's a small piece that screws on the bottom and holds up a metal circle that the dome rests on. Once I removed the glass dome (setting aside for a bird bath), I was able to remove the light from the ceiling and start putting holes in the outer edge to hold the end of each crystal strand.

First I removed he reflective foil.
One of my lights had some glue that needed to be goo goned. Then I taped the inside of the light socket so I could spray paint the bolt and socket oil rubbed bronze to match the rest of the fixture.
Looks good, but I should have waited to paint it after I drilled the holes. I wound up getting metal dust stuck in the freshly dried area and had to repaint to cover some scratches made.
I wanted to make 2 rows of 24 holes. (The holes would be across from each other to loop the wire strands through. I used a piece of string to measure the circumference and divided it by 24. I decided to round up and space the holes 1.25" apart, which made only 20 holes, but I figured it would be sufficient.
I made a piece of yarn 1.25" and used a Sharpie to mark where my outer holes would be.
I used a Dremel tool to make most of the holes, but near the end of the project, my bit was getting really dull and I ended up using a nail and hammer.
It worked a little easier and the holes were less messy.
For my second light I used solely a nail to make all the holes and it went super fast.






Next I needed to put holes in the metal circle.

I traced it on some paper to help figure out spacing and then imitated it with a Sharpie on the metal. I started with evenly putting dots for a pentagon (black dots). Then put a dot in the middle of each of those sections (red dots). And then put another dot in the middle of those sections (blue dots).


I separated my crystal strand into strings with 6 crystals. 


I attached all the crystals to the small circle first.




Then I slipped it on the metal rod and started attaching around the outside.


When I was done, I screwed on the end piece, flipped it over and had a pretty looking light!

This one has crystals all the same size


This one has crystals of varying size



I love the way the light reflects the crystals.





Linking up to:

http://www.remodelaholic.com/2015/02/white-painted-projects/
http://www.myrepurposedlife.com/2014/05/catch-as-catch-can-165.html

17 comments:

  1. Love the Mia lights! You did an incredible job copying them.

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  2. Boob light! LOL! Yes, I'm 12.

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  3. Fantastic idea! I would love it if you joined and contribute your awesome posts at my link party at City of Creative Dreams, starts on Fridays :D Hope to see you there at City of Creative Dreams Link Party.

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  4. This looks great! But how do you change the light bulb?

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    Replies
    1. The light bulb easily fits in between the crystal strands. (The strands aren't stiff and move if you touch them).

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  5. So do you use a clear bulb now?

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  6. Clever idea... I have one of these lights... the before version! ha ha... I should make one of these, so cute!

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  7. where did you get your crystals?

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    1. I got them off Amazon! http://www.amazon.com/Faux-Crystal-Garland-CrystalPlace-30/dp/B0049X83LW/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1421695795&sr=8-8&keywords=crystal+string&pebp=1421695819839&peasin=B0049X83LW

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  8. Hi Emily! I work with Cassity over at Remodelaholic, and we LOVE this! We'd love to feature you -- email me at hello@remodelaholic.com and we can discuss the details!

    Thanks!
    Lorene

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  9. Hi - this project I awesome and is something I'd lie to do. I see the holes you made for the crystal strands, but what I'd like to know is HOW you attached the strands to the holes???

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    1. The strands of crystals have metal links that are kind of like key rings. I just looped one of the metal loops through the hole.

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  10. Awesome fixture! How did you make your holes in the small metal circle that sits at the bottom? Did you use a nail & hammer? If so, would you recommend this or another way?
    Thank you!!

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    Replies
    1. Yes, I used a nail and hammer on hard surface (I did it on concrete). It worked really well.

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