pinterest challenge

Have you heard of Pinterest? In all my Internet nerdiness, I will say it's pretty great. (Follow me!) Ultimately, it's an online inspiration board where you can consolidate all the things you like from across on the web. It's a great place to tag images so you can find them later, and allows the Pinterest community to share the awesome ideas that are floating around out there. 

I have a board for possible DIY projects I spot from random blogs here and there, but I have yet to actually tackle any of them. Luckily, Sherry from Young House Love had the same issue and along with a few other bloggers (including the talented and hilarious Emily Henderson) has created the Pinterest Challenge. You can probably figure out the rules, but you see something and recreate it over the weekend. I'm always up for a challenge but very often need a (virtual) kick in the pants to get started!

My (p)inspiration: mason jar lights via poppytalk. I had been eyeing these for a while and they didn't seem to complicated as long as I had the right materials.

I got the quart size mason jars from Fishes Eddy in Manhattan ($1.80 each). The cord kits ($3.99 each) and halogen bulbs ($3.99 for 2) are from IKEA. Then I picked up a 1-1/2" hole saw from Lowe's ($6.97). That makes the cost of each fixture just a little over $10, including the hole saw which I can use again. 

The entire project was pretty self explanatory but the hardest part was drilling holes in the mason jar lids. My dinky little drill was no match for the paper thin metal, so I quickly ran to Kurt's apartment to use his tool supply. The Martigs' drill was much more powerful and quickly tore through each lid. I finally worked out a good system by the third lid with a few clamps and piece of scrap wood. The other two lids look like I tried to chew the hole in them.

Once back at my apartment, I assembled all the fixtures and tried not to get tangled in the miles of cords.

I don't even know what to call this area. It's my dining/desk/kitchen overflow zone. Regardless of use, I thought the mason jar chandelier would be a nice touch.

Here they are all strung up! I love the patterns the light makes on the wall. However, I need to find some different bulbs since these rival the brightness of the sun. I am considering Edison bulbs but hear they are expensive, and I'm not sure where to find them. Any (bright) ideas? :)

I'm really happy with the way it turned out! I still need to tame that mess of cords in the background but it shouldn't be too difficult. I will most likely just hot glue them tight to the wall. 

I can't wait to see what other projects got tackled this weekend!

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Update! See the finished product here!