DIY Light Fixture

 My sister is living her dream and living abroad in Bangalore, India. She has been working for a NGO called Interenational Justice Mission working with clients in hard situations. You can check out her work on her blog at http://chellycalandra.blogspot.com. In May she will have been there for 2 years. I am so impressed by her work and the impact she is making on the people around her. For Christmas she was able to come home for a month. She packed her suitcases with gifts and treasures for us. One of those treasures was a metal lantern. The lantern is stunning, it is made of copper. As she handed it over she said... I am sure you can figure out something creative to do with this. Oh I am sure you can imagine the glee and giddyness over the crafting that would ensue. David and I decided we would like it to be a light fixture in our kitchen. We said that eventually we would make this happen. I figured it would be one of those summer projects. I was very wrong...

One evening when I was out with girlfriends my hub secretly made it happen. He bought a $10 hanging sconce and a $1 hook and went to work. He cut a hole in the top of the lantern and threaded the wiring though the top then swung the lantern over so that it was centered over the table. (hub knows me so well and my affinty for symmetry and centeredness). He hooked up the lantern to our dimmer switch so we can have mood lighting. The following  morning I discovered the installed lantern the following morning when I went upstairs for breakfast. Hub timed the amount of time it took for me to put it on instagram. He was very accurate. There was alot of screaming and yelling and jumping up and down.

When we turn on the lantern the light glows white and green. If you look closely you will see that the lantern has a turquoise green glow. The inside of the lantern is a very beautiful green. At first I thought this was painted but David later discovered the lantern is made of copper and the green is a result of aging copper patina. This made me love our lantern even more. We estimate this type of lantern would cost $$$$ in the states. We are so grateful to Chel for lovingly shlepping it across the world for us.