Bundt Cake to Hanging Lamp!

Welcome to this crazy adventure of making a hanging plant/lamp out of a bundt cake!

Yup, A BUNDT-CAKE PAN!
(anyone else think of My Big Fat Greek Wedding?)

I'm a product designer, and I had this idea when I was designing high school furniture. Plants are great for classrooms, homes and offices, adding more oxygen into the room! It wasn't until two years later when I saw a bundt-pan at a thrift-store and thought, "hmmm, I think this is how I can make it!"

If you're a maker, or you've never made anything in your life, this inscrutable is for you. It can be really simple, and you can get creative and take it to the next level. I'd love to see your ideas and what you do with it! Reuse that bundt-cake pan from your Grandma's basement, or get inspired at a thrift-store!

You'll Need:

• Bundt Pan (Thrift store, mine was $2.99!)
• Small Bowl (Around your house, dollar store)
• Super Glue (Always good to have)
• Hanging Socket
• Light Bulb (One you have)
• Drill & Drill Bit (1/8in-1/4in)
• Safety Goggles
• Plants!!!

OPTIONAL:

• Spray Paint (Up to you!)
• Scrap Plastic (See Step 8)
• Drilling surface (At your own risk)
• Xacto Knife
• Sand Paper

Some links to what I used:

HEMMA Ikea Cord Socket:
Ikea Socket $7.00
Ikea Socket on Amazon $9.00

Light Bulbs:
Ikea Old School LED Light Bulb $3.99
GE LED Light Bulbs 3 for $7.99

Gorilla Super Glue $4.49

Rust-Oleum Metallic Spray Paint $3-4

• Disinfect and remove any stickers from your bundt-pan

I disinfected mine with some handy Clorox wipes, and removed the stickers off of the pan.
To easily remove stickers, soak the pan in water, or wet a rag to scrape off the sticker.

This is the key to making the whole bundt-pan-hanging-lamp-thing work!

• Take a trip around your house, your pantry and your recycling bin to find an object that will fit into your bundt-pan.

Take a look at the final image to get a better idea of what you're looking for. In order to make this strong, you don't want to just put something on top, but find an object that fits through the bottom. Your light will be pulling from the top, in my case this is the bottom of the bowl, so you want to find an object that doesn't slide through.

I found these bowls from Ikea that worked perfectly, and were pretty snug.

Ok! Now that you have your object, you want to make a hole just big enough to fit your light socket into. This is the hardest part!

Note: Its better to make it too small than too big. You can always make it bigger by sanding it, or screwing your socket in.

Feel free to make this hole any way you want! I found it easiest to

• Trace a Circle
  on the inside of your bowl (whatever is easiest for you)
• Drill Holes on the INSIDE of the traced circle

• Find an xacto knife or scissors to cut out the middle. Feel free to use your socket to check the hole.

An xacto knife is great for cleaning up the edges, it was wayyy easier than I thought!

Pro Tips:
-Cut away from you! I've cut myself one to many times on a knife...
-You don't want to make your hole too big
(you can always make it bigger, not smaller)

Yay! You made it through the hardest part! Now, time to super glue!

• Scratch up the surface
  Especially with shiny plastic surfaces, it can be hard for super glue to bond. Scratch up the surface with scissors, sand paper or a knife. If you know a part of the bowl will be showing, make sure you don't scratch it!
• Glue the inside of the bundt pan first
  
• Glue your bowl/plastic part
  On all sides!
• Press super hard
  Check the directions for the dry time. Make sure the bowl fits extra snug.
• Hold it from the hole you made to make sure it isn't falling through

Is your super glue dry?

• Now it's time to customize it! I already had gold spray paint and thought it would make it really nice, classy, and uniform. Feel free to use a clear coat on after if you're worried about scratching. Also, get creative! Use some blue tape and make lines or a pattern, or use multiple colors!

Pro Tips: Really, hold your can 8 inches away and take your time!

I've had way too many times where I've soaked it with spray paint and it's looked horrible. Do a little bit of paint at a time, allow it to dry before coats. I did four light coats total.

So, if you're anything like me, you're tend to over-water your plants.

If you are, then it's great to add a buffer between your plant and pan to filter out some water!

• Find some extra plastic
  in your recycle bin or pantry
• Cut and fit to your pan
  If you only have small pieces, make plastic chips by cutting up plastic and filling the bottom
• Drill or poke some holes
  

  This will help filter out some water so you don't over water

• Add to the bottom of your pan!
  & this will help you not kill you plants

Note: If you use plants like succulents, you don't need to water your plants as often.

IT'S TIME!!!

• Find your plants
  At first, I wanted a fern (great for indoors), but fell in love with these hanging ivy plants.
• Get some dirt
  Might want to do this outside...
• Put them in your Bundt-Pan!
  It's going to look great!

If you're really interested, do a few google searches to find great indoor plants for oxygen! Oxygen can clean the air, decrease stress, and so many other things! Look into it and find the right plants for your house!

This is the time!

• Actually "screw" in your socket.
  You'll notice it might be a little tighter with some spray paint, this is good! Twisting can help!
• Sandwich your light
  Use the secondary plastic piece to screw in at the bottom of your bundt-cake pan. Thread it all the way through to secure your light in between the socket and pan.
• Check!
  Hold it up and check how secure it is!

Note: I decided after to change the light to a softer, more natural color to match with the gold paint!

Hang your lamp and
ADMIRE IT! LOOK WHAT YOU DID!!

Now that you know how easy it is, make more! Add a few more sizes and shapes of bundt-cake pans to hang them together! Leave a comment and show any changes you've made or any suggestions for someone who might try it!