DIY Wire Pendant Light

While flipping through the pages of Lonny a few weeks ago, I came across an image of a pendant light with its cord wrapped in jute. The jute was just tied with repeating side knots so that the jute appeared to spiral around the cord. I immediately thought, I can do that!  So I did:

I added a pretty clear bulb, but I never hung it up. It still looked a little bare. 

I've already made jute pendant shades, so I wanted this shade to look a little different. Then one day, while digging through my craft supplies for some liquid leaf, look what I found:

So I wondered: could I make a shade out of wire?  Maybe something like this:

{Source}

{Source}

{Source}

{Source}

{Source}

Maybe. 

So I gathered up some materials and tried my best to build a pendant light sculpture out of wire.

My guesses on supplies were: an exercise ball, all the different types of wire I could find around my house, and some pliers that also cut wire. 

I started out making some giant loops out of wire, using the size of the exercise ball as a guide.  Then I tried to assemble the loops into a globe, tying them together with more wire anywhere they intersected.

Spoiler: it was a DIY failure. When I ran out of wire, I only had this, but I didn't believe it was going to get any better, so I stopped there.

It was too floppy, and the wire was bent in all directions, so it looked like a mess. I stuffed it in the trash and ate some Oreos to make myself feel better.

Then I had a thought. I went back to my inspiration photos, and I noticed something about that Young House Love light. This one:

I love this light. And doesn't it look like two halves of a wire globe put together? Do I have anything like that?

Do those look a little like wire plant hangers, maybe?

I dug a couple of plant hangers out of my garage, and I removed that bird nest looking stuff from inside them and the chains they were hanging from. I put the two halves together with some wire, stuck my light inside (I switched back to a frosted bulb, because the clear one was blinding with just the wire!), and I ended up with this:

Hmm. I like it! I don't love it, though. It's a lot smaller than what I wanted. But it was free, since I used things I already had around my house, and it provides more light in the dressing room, which I needed. And I really do like it. The wire is sturdy and the pattern is a lot fancier than anything I could have made. It's really a perfect smaller version of what I wanted. I just wish it was bigger.

But, if you're looking for the easiest possible way to get a cheap wire pendant, and you don't mind it being a little smaller than the YHL light, the plant hanger plan works pretty well. I've thought about taking the light out and spray painting the wire part a fun color, or maybe black, so all the wire would match. 

So what do you think? Have you made anything for your home lately?