DIY 4 Lamps With a Board for Créativa – Presentation

As part of the Créativa fair (the big DIY fair), I was asked to offer DIY workshops around wood. The constraints were as follows:

• Something very simple, and accessible to everyone
• Something achievable with few or no tools
• Something smart enough to attract visitors to the stand

And I only had 30 minutes to find my ideas… So I went with 4 more or fewer designer lamps, using Google or giving free rein to my imagination.

Articles and videos are in progress, to show you the manufacture of each lamp, from A to Z.

Preparation of projects

So I start to think about what I can make, but also how to make it. Indeed here I have to restrict myself to the minimum of tools, putting myself in the place of a visitor to the show (or an Internet user) who would have few or no tools at home. And apparently, this constraint is still important, somewhat limiting creativity.

In the end, my scribbles are done, and my lamps drawn, but I still have to think about how to make them simple.

According to my estimates, I will need a single 200x30cm board and a pallet square. That is for 4 lamps an investment of about 7 euros in wood.

Then I had to think about the electrical part, so I opted for a sheathed wire (prettier than a classic wire) as well as rather nice sockets. With that, I had supplies for three lamps, for an amount of 26 euros.

Since I'm going to cite brands, I take this opportunity to tell you that I have no affiliation or anything else with those you'll see in the articles about Créativa's lamps, I bought everything with my money (sniff), but as the purpose of these articles is to advise, guide, orient… whoever discovers DIY, I try to give the best possible advice.

I still lack enough to equip a lamp, the one I imagined myself (therefore necessarily my favorite NDRL), the MordernLed of the small name that I gave it (the one in zigzag to put it simply) which as its name suggests is LED. In addition to the rest, I, therefore, bought a one-meter LED strip (15 euros).

Necessary tools

As I told you previously, I limited the tools to the bare minimum. To make the 4 wooden lamps you will need:

• A handsaw (also called a hand saw, the basic saw, but I also offer a jigsaw model)
• An 18V drill (I also suggest a less expensive 14V)
• Forstner drills and bits (I'll show you that later, don't worry)
• A screwdriver
• Screws

Very classic lamp, but at the same time modern. She goes everywhere. It is also the one that required the most wood resources from me (two 50x20xm cuts, one 20x20cm cut, and two 50x10cm cuts). Via a plate and a socket, you will be able to fix a lampshade. To be frank, I will not keep it and therefore did not buy a lampshade (I added this one ). As a result, not being able to do this little assembly in real life, during the presentation of the lamps at the Créativa workshops (as a reminder on 21 and 22/01 at 2:45 p.m. for Montpellier readers), I will propose it differently, by reversing the socket which will end up inside, with therefore the bulb in the lamp, which it can serve in addition to a small stool.

Ultra simple to make, it is also the lamp that had the most success during my first Facebook posts. This is a simple pallet square, which I drilled in the format of my sleeve, namely 40mm then 30mm. Nothing to add, except that it's often the simplest things that are the best... (and there I stuck you the music of the Herta pub with the little boy, his grandfather, and the river, for the day ).

Another ultra simple lamp to make yourself. It can also be diverted, and the same without a light bulb, for example, can be used as a book press, or even keeping the current dimensions of a magazine rack. To make it you will need a cut of 20×40, one of 20×25, and one of 20x15cm. Just like the Old Style lamp, just add a socket and you're done.

If for the other three lamps I was openly inspired by what I could see on Google, for this one I had only my imagination. Besides, I've never shown it in operation, and apparently, I'm still the only one who knows what it's going to look like. This is a very simple lamp, with a 100x10cm board that you cut wherever you want. The idea is to form a sort of zigzag and insert an LED strip below / above. For my part, I added a groove in the center, but it is not essential (because it is difficult to do without being equipped or without mastering the wood chisel). The ribbon will pass below the first arch, and through a hole laid inside the V.