Last blog I told how I embellished an old chandelier with jewelry findings and crystals.  This time I am sharing some hints and lessons learned I experienced while doing this project.  Hopefully my readers can benefit from my problems and mistakes!  We learn from each other, right?  I know I appreciate all the blogs I have read which have helped me and saved me a lot of time!

But before I get into the hints I wanted to say that I appreciate my followers and hope you are able to continue following now that Blogger (or Google, should I say?) has taken away the Feedburner email subscription function.  I haven't found a replacement yet.  I hope my readers can continue to find me.  Please let me know if you have suggestions or problems (I don't know yet how to solve this but first I just need to know if it really is a problem...)

Hints for working with a vintage or used chandelier:

• Test your fixture immediately before you do any work on it.  This prevents a lot of wasted time.  If you don’t have a tester, you can just hold both wires to the snap connectors on a 9V battery (separate the two wires and strip off a section of insulation first).
• Old wires can be brittle - Even though this chandelier had never been used, the two copper wires were sealed together inside a hard, clear coating. I finally got a small section of wires to separate and used my pliers to pull the two apart but they seemed as if they would break off at any moment.  
• Brittle wires are hard to connect just by twisting!  When I tried to twist them with the wire of a micro plug (to plug it in to my dollhouse system) it didn’t make a connection.  Took some time troubleshooting but eventually I had to strip off the heat shrink tube and solder them all together in order for it to work.
• Too-short wires – beware that some vintage chandeliers are sold “as-is” and many times sellers don’t check that they work.  If you find one that is not in the original package, ask whether it works.  Also – make sure wires haven’t been cut so short that there is not enough wire to work with.

So how do you hang it??
I have hung a few chandeliers now (6 to be exact; 7 if you count the one I had to replace).  I learn something every time.  But here are my tips for mounting through the floor above where the chandelier will go:

• Drill a hole in the ceiling for pulling the wires through to the floor above.  This means your flooring in the room above must be removable (I could probably write a blog just on this).  This also means you must have previously run tape wire across the floor to the center of the room to attach to the chandelier.
  
  
  
• If using a ceiling medallion, you can either glue it to the ceiling now over the hole (line up its hole with the one in the ceiling).   OR glue the chandelier canopy to it, let that dry then glue the medallion to the ceiling after connecting the wires.  Here is a photo of how I held my ceiling medallion in place while the glue dried (using bamboo skewers and a wood circle held against the medallion). I carved two small grooves in the wood circle with an X-Acto knife so the skewer end would sort of rest there and "catch". Strips of scrap basswood would also work.
  

  Bamboo skewers and wood circle to hold medallion while gluing

  
  

  Toothpicks to help align the medallion with the hole (before bracing)

  
  
• Use a canopy (dome shaped piece with a ring that holds the chandelier to the ceiling) and a chain to permanently hold the chandelier.  Don't just let it hang by the wires alone.  It's not  so much the weight but this: if your wires are tight with no slack then they take the force when the chandelier is bumped, instead of the chain and canopy.  If they break, you will throw the chandelier away because they will be too short to connect again.  I have had first hand experience with this (link to my first ever blog post).
  
• Make your connection.  Pull the wires through the medallion and ceiling hole and tape them down to the floor to make the connections.  Follow the instructions in your lighting kit and attach the chandelier wires to the tape or round wire of your house using grommets or solder.  I solder my connections because I have had several connections that have come apart.  But soldering is optional.
  
  
  
• Now glue the canopy to the medallion (or the ceiling if not using a medallion).  Hopefully it is light weight enough you can just hold it a little while until it sets.  Or use removable painter’s tape to hold it in place overnight.  I like Crafter’s Pick Ultimate glue because it is thick and dries fast.  But some like to use solvent glues for metal – such as E6000.
  
  
  

I didn't go into the details on running tape wire or making the grommet connections or soldering because there are so many kits and books that describe this.  Recently I have also started putting micro plugs on the chandelier then soldering the female end of the plug to the tape run (but this is for another blog… ).  I don't consider myself an expert in hanging chandeliers but here are some links to two people who have much more experience.   Both Carl and Tina are very familiar with the Cir-Kit products and have several videos on using their chandelier adapters which can be used on the ceiling (as opposed to through the floor above, as I have done). I use Carl's products for my lighting - power supplies, etc.  He has an AWESOME book that is so helpful and includes information about LEDs and converting your dollhouse from the old 12 volt transformer to DC power (which I have now done - maybe a future blog post??).  I love Tina's videos because, even though she has been building dollhouses for 25 years, she gives a very honest review of products from the perspective of a "newbie" (or "noob" as my grandson would say) including the problems she has encountered with those products.  You learn more from these people than from the Cir-Kit website because they actually show you the components in the bag and what each little piece is used for.

Carl Sahlberg of CR2S - Creative Reproductions 2 Scale

My favorite book on miniature lighting from CR2S

Tina Kaminska Dickenson

In the near future I will have to hang some fixtures on the ceiling of the top floor.  I will let you know how that goes!!

Thanks to my readers for your interest.  Remember to let me know if you are having problems with the loss of Feedburner.   Thinking of what to do next...any suggestions?

I feel it is very hard to find miniature light fixtures that aren’t dated-looking or that look like they were from a big-box hobby store (common).  I don’t like most of those battery fixtures – the bases are very thick and the bulbs very squared off, they don’t look like candle flames when on sconces and chandeliers.  They have their place – like maybe in a room box, where there are only a few fixtures but who would want to turn on many of these every time you display your dollhouse?  This is why I have so many blog posts for making sconces, lamps, etc.

I like traditional fixtures but want a modern spin on it.  I found one that I really like at Lighting Bug.  I purchased it but it was kind of expensive (absolutely worth it when you consider the artistry!).  But when I decided I needed another one, I wanted to try to replicate it using a less expensive chandelier to start with. Here is the one I purchased (left) and the one I embellished (right).

Here is how I did it. Supplies and tools are in bold and also listed with cost at the end.

1. Find moderate cost working chandelier with graceful curved arms, simple lines and narrow sections of post that you could fit a brass flower around (with a center hole).  Mine was a vintage Clare Bell Brass 6 arm Williamsburg-type with large turned balls on the post.

   Vintage Chandelier purchased for $75 with shipping

   
   
2. Find brass petal findings with long, slim petals, about 1-1/2 inches tip to tip, 6 petals. I found these searching "layered flower finding" on Etsy.
   
   
   
3. If you can only find them riveted together (as mine were), they can be easily separated by drilling through the rivet.  Use a drill bit a little larger than rivet hole.  If possible, use a drill press for straight vertical drilling (or your Dremel with steady hands and pliers to hold finding so it doesn’t move when drilling).  Notice in the photo that these were kind of rusty.  It will buff out with steel wool.
4. I used two findings, they were the same size but one was flatter and the other one was taller, with the petals pushed together sort of like a crown (photo below, the one being drilled).  The crown shaped one I used near the top of the chandelier – to mimic the one I was trying to replicate.
5. Cut through the center ring between two petals to open the ring (I just used my wire cutter).  Use pliers to open it up wide enough so it will fit around the chandelier.  I just found some spots where the center post of the chandelier was very narrow and fit the open ring over two of those spots (but don’t put it on yet).
6. Drilling holes for crystals - I used my Dremel and wire drill bit (#64?)
   
   
   
• Its easiest to turn the flower upside down and drill through the back of the petal.  This way the drill bit didn’t ‘walk’ as much as when I tried to drill it from the top
• My findings were kind of thick brass and it took a while for the wire bit to get through.  After about 7 holes I had to re-charge my Dremel.  Let it do the work and don’t press down very much.  It may take a while.
• Any scratches from the drill bit ‘walking’ can be removed in later steps with sandpaper and steel wool
7. Once drilled, sand lightly with 400 grit sandpaper over the holes to remove snags.  Then smooth all the scratches with 0000 (‘four ought’) steel wool.  This should make the brass very shiny, smooth and golden.  If the underneath side of the holes will show, then sand and steel wool there too.  I found the steel wool was able to remove some rusty looking spots that must have been there for years (these were vintage findings).   In the photo below, the petal near the knife tip was buffed with steel wool while the petal right below it still has some scratches from the sandpaper.
   
   
   
8. Preserve that golden brass glow by spraying the finding front and back with a clear acrylic spray.  I used an old product “Triple Thick Glaze”.
9. The crystals – I used some tiny clear ‘delica’ beads (cylindrical, very tiny) and larger 2mm (hard to find) and 3 mm Swarovski crystal beads.  I used some thin brass non-tarnishing beading wire and cut two pieces (since it was so thin).  I threaded one delica over both pieces of wire then brought the four ends up together with the bead at the bottom of the fold of wire.  Then I threaded the bigger 2 or 3 mm bead on the four wires.  Then another 1 or 2 delicas – threading all 4 wires through them.  I put all 4 wires through the BACK of one of the drilled holes in the finding, folded it around the petal and twisted the wire about 3 or 4 times.  The steps are shown in order in the first photo below.
   
   
   
   
   
   
10. Clip off the excess wire with flush cut pliers.  Put all the crystals on the finding before trying to put the finding on the chandelier.  Repeat for the other finding (if you are also doing two).  
11. When ready to put the findings on the chandelier, use pliers to open it up and slip it onto the stem of the chandelier.  Try not to scratch it (but it may be inevitable).  I did not glue my findings – they are just wobbling around.
    
    
    
12. I also put crystals hanging from each of the 6 arms using the same process.  I used the bigger (3mm) crystals with the delicas on the arms.
13. Even though my chandelier was brand new, still in the box and never been connected there were some rusty spots in the brass I noticed AFTER I did the work of embellishing.  So I brushed over them with clear nail polish (actually used some old Fimo glaze but it is the same thing).  I didn’t want these to continue rusting or make the fixture look patchy after a few years though it still might.  Time will tell.

Costs:
Vintage Clare-Bell Chandelier - $74.50 (with shipping, Ebay)
2mm Swarovski crystals - $5 (with shipping, Ebay; from China)
3mm Swarovski crystals - $5 (with shipping, Ebay; from China)
Crystal Delica beads - $8 (with shipping, Etsy store “Seaofbeadstx”)
Tarnish resistant brass beading wire, 34 gauge (Artistic Wire brand) - $6
Vintage flower findings -  $8 (with shipping, Etsy “BossJewelrySupply”)
(total = $106)

Hope this inspires you to embellish a chandelier.  Next time - some hints on working with vintage or used chandelier and hints on hanging a chandelier.

Here I am squeezing in a tutorial for November on the very last day of the month!.  Boy has this month gone fast!  For the tiny house project I wanted to make some modern lamps.  The white one above is lit with an LED bulb and uses only a 3 volt battery.   The whole Tiny House is powered by two AA batteries (total 3 volts).  See my other recent blogs about the tiny house by clicking keywords "Tiny House" in the sidebar.  For this lamp, I was inspired by this modern Trousdale lamp from jonathanadler.com:

There is also a wonderful miniature version by PhillipNuveen (Etsy shop) that is very reasonably priced.

But I wanted to make my own.   I have been experimenting with the LED bulbs trying to adapt them to dollhouse lamps.  You can see some of my earlier blogs with tutorials using LED bulbs here:

https://kendrasminis.blogspot.com/2020/09/tiny-house-light-fixtures-pendants-from.html

https://kendrasminis.blogspot.com/2019/08/artichoke-sconces-tutorial-adapting.html

This was an easier project because the 3 Volt bulbs have very thin wires with no lumps. Bulbs tht have been modified for use with 12 volt dollhouse systems or 9 volt batteries are protected by way of a lumpy resistor embedded in the wires.  That resistor makes it hard to hide the wires or thread them through brass tubing or beads.

Following is how I made the lamp from mostly wooden turned craft parts.  Except for the furniture leg, these were probably purchased at Michael’s or Hobby Lobby.  The furniture leg was in a bunch of wood parts I bought at an estate sale so I don’t know the brand.  I made this lamp so that the bulb would be removable (even though they have a really long life).

Supplies – Lamp Base (wood parts):
Wooden thimble
Wooden turned spindle piece
Furniture leg
Drawer pull
Flat wooden circle, a little bigger than the thimble
piece of scrap wood 1/16th thick or so small enough to fit inside the thimble

Other parts and supplies:
1/16th inch brass tubing, the length of the finished lamp
3/32 inch clear acrylic tubing, few inches long (should fit over the brass tube)
LED bulb – I used “Mega” warm white 3 volt from Evan Designs
Scrap of aluminum tubing that fits over the brass tube and inside the clear tube
Spray paint, blue painter’s tape
Drill press to drill hole vertically through the wood pieces before assembly
drill bit the size of the brass tube
Razor saw and miter box to cut clear tube
Wire cutters
glue

Wooden Parts assembled

To make the lamp base – Look at the photo for the order of the parts (thimble on bottom, finial, furniture leg, drawer pull).  I had to drill through each piece to allow for a piece of brass tubing.  I used a drill press since it had to be very straight and centered (you can see on the finished lamp some pieces were not perfectly centered).  This was hardest on the thin furniture leg.  Cut the brass tube a little longer than your base.  I used an X-acto knife and cut mine about 4 inches long. Thread the brass tube through the pieces and let it stick out a little the top.  The thin brass tubing served two purposes: 1) sturdiness in holding the parts straight and together and 2) conduit for the bulb wire. 

I also used a wood circle shape and piece of scrap wood for the bottom.  I cut the scrap to just fit inside the thimble.  I filed a small channel into the thimble and the scrap wood where it fits into the thimble for the wire to come out and so the bulb could be entirely removed and replaced.

Glue the wood pieces together EXCEPT the very bottom circle, and spray paint.  Let dry.

For the lampshade: white plastic candle socket cover (for of a full size chandelier), 1-1/4 inch diameter, Amazon).  Jewelry finding – cross shaped finding that is about 1.5 inches in diameter (JAR-JAF Item #1391 or #65 depending on the size of your lampshade). 

Cut the white candle socket with scissors to the size you want for the lampshade.  You can sand the cut edges to smooth them and square them.  Cut off the outer loops of the cross shaped finding with wire cutters so that it just fits inside the lampshade.  Use a stack of coins as a spacer between the cross piece and the work board.  This will also keep the cross piece level.  Glue the four “spokes” with white glue.

Hold your lampshade to your lamp to determine the length of clear tubing you will need.  Cut the clear tubing to reach between the top of the lamp base and the lampshade cross shaped piece.  Size depends on the size of your lampshade.  This will just be to support the shade and keep it straight. Make sure the top and bottom where tubing was cut off is perfectly square so that the shade will sit level (use miter box).  If necessary, use some sandpaper to smooth. Drill a hole in one side near the center.  The bulb will just sit next to the tube as in the photo below.  Thread the wire through the clear tube then down through the brass tube. I had to also use a scrap of aluminum tube as a spacer since the clear tube was too big for the brass tube and would have wobbled.


For the lamp shade finial – a white glass head pin, silver 2.5mm crimp tube and a piece of tubing or clear acetate rod (or Q-tip tube?), about 1/16th inch thick or plastic that will fit through the center hole of the jewelry finding and down inside the clear acetate tubing.  The finial makes the shade removable so you can get to the bulb in case it needs to be replaced.

Here is the lamp when lit.  You can see that the "mega" type LED bulb from Evan Designs is very bright.

 
I love to make one of a kind light fixtures from brass parts and beads because they can look very unique and custom.  I buy my LEDs and battery holders from Evan Designs (see links throughout this post).  The main thing to know when making fixtures using LED bulbs is to use the 3 Volt bulbs if possible.   They have the tiniest wires (no lumps) and can be threaded through narrow beads and tubing – making the most nicely scaled lamps and fixtures.  Another benefit of the 3 volt LED wires is that they can be drawn through holes in the foam core using a draw thread after the walls are papered (more about this in a later post).

The LEDs use so little energy that you can power even 10 or more bulbs for several hours with a coin cell battery – enough for exhibiting at a show.  The 3 Volt LEDS can also be powered with two AA or AAA batteries which can handle more bulbs than a coin cell (30 per Evan Designs) and last longer.  (Watch for an upcoming post on how I hid the batteries for this project).

**Click on "lighting" in the sidebar "Blog Keywords" for other posts about LED lighting hints.**

But, back to the 3 Volt lights -- will they be bright enough for a 1 inch scale room?  That depends on how many you use and which type.  The “Mega” give off a lot of light.  They are harder to hide in scale lamps and fixtures (I used Mega in the kitchen pendants and a floor lamp).  If you are just wanting a “glow” for effect then the tiny ones are fine (Nano, Chip).  I used the tiny “Nano” size in the bathroom sconces and they give off a nice glow.

Following is a tutorial on making the wall sconces from the Tiny House bathroom and the kitchen pendants.

Bath Sconces

Supplies:

• LED bulb – 3 volt “nano” size from Evan Designs.  I always use warm white and order the extra long wires (14 inch). 
  
• Brass tube 1/16th inch from Hobby Stores or Ebay (K&S is one brand).  I bent it with pliers protected with a folded piece of craft foam.  It can be cut off using just an X-Acto knife. Make sure that the tubing is cut long enough to extend through the base and poke into the wall a tiny bit to provide a more secure gluing base (for gluing into foam core).

  Bath Sconce Supplies

  
  
• Cord End - Brass or gold colored cup shaped jewelry finding with hole in the end – I enlarged the hole with an X-Acto knife to fit the brass tube. This is the “socket” that the crystal bead fits in.
• Plastic or crystal bead (large hole if possible).  I just pushed the LED up as far as it would go but it wouldn’t go inside the bead.  Since the Nano bulb is so tiny it won’t really matter that it isn’t entirely inside the bead (unless you can see it up close in your room).  Acrylic beads work great because you can usually enlarge the hole enough to embed the tiny “nano” bulb using just an X-acto knife or drill bit.
• Brass hexagon shaped piece (Etsy – Brass Kicker) for wall mount base (drill hole in center big enough for tubing).  But you could use any brass disc that can be drilled – or disc shaped bead spacer.

Assemble in this order: thread bulb wire through Crystal bead, cord end, brass tubing.  I didn’t use any glue, the wire sort of just stays.  If you need to glue, use bead glue (the kind that doesn’t frost beads – like GS Hypo Cement).  I poked a hole in the wall and pulled the wires through to the outside of the building then glued the fixture to the wall (probably with Crafter's Pick Ultimate Glue, can't remember).  On the outside of the wall I hid the wires under some wood trim.

Kitchen Pendants

I mounted the kitchen pendants on brackets because they couldn't be hung from the ceiling.  The ceiling of the Tiny House was a big clear plastic viewing window.  I made the brackets just long enough to clear the shelves, about 2-1/4 inches.

In the photo of the finished pendants, one looks brighter than the other.  This is because I didn’t get the LEDs facing the same way or one was slightly uneven when pushed up into the plastic bead.  Something to watch out for when you make your own.  The LEDs do have a front and back and need to be facing the same way when used in pairs. With the warm white ones, the "front" (light emitting) side is sort of yellow - like an egg yolk.

  

Evan Designs 3 Volt Mega LED Warm White

Kitchen Pendant Supplies:

The photo with pink background was a "trial" fixture using a different type of bulb and without the pony bead but shows the cage and cord end up close.

Pony Beads and Cord Ends

• LED – 3 volt warm white “Mega” LED (Evan Designs) with 14 inch wires.  I used “Mega” so it would give a bright light.
• Clear plastic pony beads to simulate bulbs, I enlarged one hole slightly with a metal file (sort of squared up the hole) so the LED would fit up inside the bead and shine straight down.
• Cord ends (same as used for the bath sconces above).
• Brass tubing – two pieces were used for each one, a shorter one inside the “cage” to disguise the wire and another longer one to hide the wire between the fixture and the bracket
• The cage part of the fixture was made from some geometric earrings (Ebay).  There are several types of cage earrings shown in the supplies photo but the one I used was pyramid shaped.

  Pendant Supplies

  
  
  
• Wall brackets were made from slices of crown molding (Ebay Seller Manchester Wood Works, item MW 12023) and basswood scraps about 2-1/4 inches long by 3/32 inch thick.  A hole was drilled at one end for the wire.  The corners on one end were beveled with sandpaper.  Glue the crown molding to the flat wood piece with wood glue.  I cut the crown molding on my table saw to match the width of the flat wood piece but you can also buy sliced crown molding pieces from the same seller (and glue two together if they are not thick enough).
  
• Brass strips (from a K-S metal scrap bag) were used to hide the wiring on top of the bracket. These scrap pieces had a very narrow edge on both long sides providing a "track" for the wires to be hidden. But if you can't find these specific pieces, you could also sandwich the wires between two pieces of wood with a carved channel to cover the wires.

I threaded the Mega LED wires through the pony bead, cord end, then short brass tube.  Then I sort of wrapped the wire around the ring at the top of the earring cage.  Then through the long brass tube then through the hole drilled in the bracket.  I laid them flat across the top of the bracket and glued on the brass tracks covering the wires.

When dry I pulled them through a hole in the wall and up through the foam (inside the wall) to the top edge of the wall.  I used a big needle and some button thread to make a loop to draw the wire through the hole.  Since the Tiny House was still just a shell and I hadn't filled it with furniture I was able to lay it on its side to glue the brackets to the wall.  More on how I covered the wires and brought them to the battery area in a later post.

Hope you enjoy making pendant fixtures.  There are lots of earring styles that would make great modern "cage" fixtures.  Watch for the making of some more modern lamps in an upcoming post!

Don’t you just love those LEDs?  The only problem is hiding the lumps and wires.  In today's post, I will describe what types of LED bulbs to use for cabinet lighting and how to hide the wiring.  First I have these tips working with LEDs:

LED Tips

• Evan Designs – they have a great website that has lots of information about the types of LEDs and how to connect them.  They even have videos on how to put them in room boxes, how to splice, etc.
• If ordering from Evan, always get extra long (14 inch) wires on your bulbs.  It only costs 10 cents extra per bulb and gives you a little more wiggle room when trying to hide lumps and wires.
• For small projects (few bulbs), my advice would be to use the 3 volt bulbs and 3 volt button battery (or 2 x AAA battery pack OR 2 x AA battery pack, all are 3 Volt).  The reason is that there are no lumps on the 3 Volt bulb wires and they are easier to use in fixtures and hide behind backsplashes, etc. (chips - nano, pico, etc).  I used a 9 Volt battery in this project because the bulbs provided with the kit (which I used for the sconces) were that type.

All bulbs for this project were the types that work with 9 Volt batteries (5-13 Volt use range).  Bulbs sizes used for this project:

Sconces – 1.8 mm bulb
Inside cabinet (upper) – “nano” chip
Under cabinet – “chip” size
Other supplies: 9 Volt battery holder and battery, switch, extra wire and heat shrink tubing for splicing.

Hiding Wires

1. Sconces – see my previous blog for how I made and installed these.  These 1.8mm bulbs have thicker wires that are harder to hide.  The sconce wires exited the back of the upper cabinets and were glued across the back to the center joining the other wires (upper and lower cabinet bulbs) and brought down behind the backsplash.
2. Upper cabinet lights – I made a hole at the top back of the cabinet.  Before putting the bulb through I carved a channel down the back of the cabinet and removed just a couple layers of paper with my X-Acto.  This is where the wires would lay when the cabinet is glued to the wall.  Next, I pushed the bulb through the hole (the “nano” chip is almost smaller than the wires).  I glued the nano chip with Crafter’s Pick Ultimate glue to the inside center top of the cabinet.  I held it in place with small clamps (careful not to break the chip with too tight clamps).  When the bulb was set and dry, I laid the wires in the groove then covered it with a strip of index card.  I painted the red and green wires to match the inside cabinet.

   Carving a channel for wires

   
   
    
   
   
   
3. Under cabinet lights – These were glued to the underside of the upper cabinets about halfway back (putting them too near the front makes them too visible).  I used a small spring clamp to hold the bulb while it dried. After the glue was dry the cabinets were glued to the wall.
4. After hanging the upper cabinets, I had 3 sets of wires below each cabinet (sconce, upper cabinet light, under cabinet light).  The backsplash was going to cover the wires on the wall.  The backsplash was tile paper glued to thin cardboard.  I then glued “spacers” of 1/16th thick basswood to the back allowing a channel between the wood pieces for the wires.

   Backsplash with spaces for wires

   
5. In the area behind the lower cabinets, I had to splice in additional length on some of the bulb wires so they would reach over to the battery holder.  In the photo above you can see the "lumps" in the wires just below the backsplash tile.
6. I made my lower cabinet fronts removable for access to the battery.  There is a “toe kick” (strip of cardboard painted to match the base color of the cabinets).  The cabinet front is held in place by tension.  Foam core dividers prevent the front from pushing in too far.
   
7. The battery pack has a small button.  I carved a hole in the side of the box (under the counter) so that just the button could be pulled outside.
   
   
   
   
8. After the sink was glued in, the counter top was placed on and the false front pushed in place concealing the wires and battery.

I hope this post is helpful to someone wanting to use LEDs and hide wiring in a small project.  Next month – a few final details on this kitchen– custom made cabinet hardware and “cheater” flooring!

This is the 5th in a series covering a mini kitchen project (going back to March, 2019).  This blog is a little more complicated than some of my other posts. I want so badly to use LEDs in my miniature lighting but some are so hard to fit through the typical tubing or beads that I want to make fixtures from. For these sconces I used some LEDs that were provided with the kitchen kit.
 
They are the 1.8mm LEDs wired for use with a 9 volt battery. They have a thick lump near the bulb that protects against high voltage. But this lump won’t fit through the brass tubing I wanted to use so I had to bend it. See photos further down for how I modified the bulb.

For this project, here is a photo of some of the supplies you will need:
 

• polymer clay artichokes. You must be able to be cut through these (not resin or porcelain)
• 3/32 outer diameter brass tubing, about 3 inches total
• Sconce plate or base (I used a 3/8 inch square brass piece (JAR-JAF Miniatures Item #213) with a hole to accept the brass rod) 
• Candle Cup (JAR-JAF Item 626 or 1579) 
• Straight pin with a metal bulb on the end (dressmaker pin?) 
• Aquarium type clear tubing for shades, 3/8 diam (about 1” piece) 
• Fabric to cover the shade 
• Index card 
• X-Acto knife 
• Razor saw and miter box (to cut brass tubing) 
• LED light bulbs (Evan Designs) - I used the 1.8mm but smaller will work too.
• Crafter’s Pick Ultimate glue 
•  needle nose pliers

1. Cut into the artichoke from the center top make a slice approximately half way down. Hollow it out if necessary. You will need to be able to fit two brass rods in the center. I had to remove a bunch of cotton stuffing from mine
   
    
2. “Drill” two holes in the artichoke (using the pointed tip of a #11 X-acto knife). One hole at the center top and one at about halfway down the side. The holes must fit the 3/32 brass rods. (only 1 hole shown in the photo).
3. Sand a little off the very tip of the bulb to make the light spray out (fine emery board). Otherwise it will make a kind of ‘cone’ pattern on the wall or inside the cabinet where you mount it. Don’t sand too much or you will damage it! 
4. Bend the bulb in a “U” shape being very careful not to cut the wires or break the plastic. I used a small needle nose pliers. It must fit into your shade so that the shade completely covers it (see also photos, step 14).
   

   Close UP of bent bulb - I painted it gold to disguise the black

5. Test your bulb after you bend it (hold the wires to your battery connector wires - red to red and black to black!) 
6. If desired (to make the light warmer) paint the bulb with a yellow-ish paint. 
7. Shade – Find some tubing the size you need. I found clear tubing (Home Depot) 3/8 inch in diameter. Cut it to the length you need (mine was 3/8 inch). 
   
8. Cut a strip of index card to cover the tube and overlap about 1/8 inch.  Cover index card with fabric clipping corners and allowing one angled flap. Fold fabric over on both long edges to cover the card. Don’t fold fabric over the short edges or it will be very thick.
   
   
   
   
   
9. Wrap the shade around the tubing and overlap the fabric at the back. Try to keep it neat with no frayed strings. 
10. Note: I use Crafter’s Pick Ultimate glue for the following steps. It seems to hold pretty quickly and grabs well. Depending on your sconce, size of your artichoke, and how much tubing you want to protrude through the wall, decide how long each ‘leg’ of brass tubing ‘elbow’ should be. Cut the brass tubing into two pieces using a razor saw and miter box. 
11. Thread the bent bulb down through the top piece of tubing then through the other piece. Leaving a little wire showing between the two, bend them at right angles. TRY NOT TO CUT THE WIRE WITH THE EDGE OF THE TUBE.
    
12. The two pieces will be secured at a right angle in the middle of the artichoke and held with glue. 
13. After the brass tubes are glued inside the artichoke, glue the brass plate to the artichoke. Try to keep the plate parallel to the upright tube and hold it until it is somewhat set. 
14. When the tubes are dry, glue the lamp shade over the bulb. It will not get hot since it is an LED so no worry about the glue melting.
    
15.  One more thing I did was to make a finial for the bottom of the artichoke. I used a pin (painted the pin head gold) stuck through a candle cup finding and up into the bottom of the artichoke. 
16. Attaching Sconce to Cabinet: Since the cabinets were cardboard, it was not hard to poke holes where I wanted to mount the sconces. I brought the wires to the inside of the cabinet then cut another exit hole through to the back of the cabinet and pushed them through to the back.  I glued them against the cabinet side using a piece of scrap wood and small clamps to hold wires. 
    
17. I painted the wires to match the inside of the cabinets. (in this photo you can also see the very tiny LED glued to the inside top of the cabinet for interior cabinet lights – next post!)
    
     

    Finished sconce mounted on side of cabinet.

18. Next time I will show how the wires are combined with the other lights (under cabinet in inside cabinet).  Also how I hid the battery and switch.

  I hope this post will give someone the inspiration to try to adapt LED lights to mini fixtures.