DIY Basket Light Fixture

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One thing you’ll learn quite quickly about me is that if there’s something I want for our house, and it can be DIYed, I will nearly always attempt to do so. “Attempt” being the keyword here, because it admittedly doesn’t always work out. I like to joke with my Instagram followers/buddies that I will happily try things first so they’ll know if they should try them, too, or stay far, far away. Haha!

If I can create it for much less than purchasing it ready-made, I’ll give it a go! THIS project for SURE fell into that category (and worked out)!

Spending just $12 (not including the basket, which I already owned but spent just $25 on previously), I was able to create a beautiful, unique light fixture that otherwise would have EASILY set me back $200, plus a pricy visit from an electrician.

Note that I created this fixture PURELY for ambiance, vs bright light. We have lots of natural light in here, and we have the can lights for evening time. The light does give such a pretty, mellow glow in the evenings, though, and I just love it!

I PROMISE you can do this, too! It’s easy peesy, and will be EVEN simpler if you already have a basket on hand! Let’s dive in!

What You’ll Need:

1. A woven basket of your choosing (Homegoods has AMAZING options)

2. A battery operated light kit like this one from Target (it’s even ok for outdoor use, too!)

3. Floral wire

4. Twine or rope in your choice of color

5. Hot glue gun + glue sticks

6. A light plate (like this one) OR a hook for hanging (like this one)

How to make it (and what I would do differently next time):

{ Disclaimer: I didn’t know how this project would work out, and I totally did it without any plans to blog about it. Therefore, the photos aren’t stellar at all. They’re actually screen shots from my Instagram stories. If you want to watch the videos of this process, that can be find on my IG story highlights here.}

1. Prepare (or buy) your basket:

Because I wanted to use a basket I already had, I trimmed off the handles and cut off quite a bit of the wicker so that it would be more of an “open weave” for the light to shine through.

2. Fold your light fixture in half, or to the appropriate length.

The battery pack and lightbulb were on opposite ends of the cord, and I wanted the lightbulb AND the battery pack to be inside the basket “top”, so I folded the light fixture cord in half (the length was just right for this and where I wanted it hung). Then, I threaded it through the ceiling plate, (but keep reading, because you should do this a little bit differently than I did).

3. Wrap the cords in twine or rope.

I wrapped the cords in black twine (which I decided to change to white rope later) to cover up the fact that it is actually two cords (because it was folded in half).

4. Cut a slit into the bottom of the basket (cut off-center, if need be).

I knew I couldn’t cut right through the center, because the whole thing would have fallen apart. So I cut about a 4 inch slit off to the side and worked on plan B.

5. Push the cord through the slit in the basket (from the bottom and out the top).

I threaded the plate and cord through the hole I cut in the basket. If I had thought it through, I would have WAITED to thread the cords through the ceiling plate. I didn’t want to undo it because I was worried about messing with the cords too much. If I had waited, I would have had a much smaller hole to cut in the basket (duh!).

6. Fold over and secure cord with floral wire, if you weren’t able to cut through the center of your basket.

Once everything was threaded through, I knew I had to work on getting it all to LOOK like it came up through the center of the basket, so I “folded”/laid the cord flat against the center and then secured it using a bit of floral wire. Next, I secured the battery box flat to the underside so it would be concealed.

7. NOW thread your ends through the ceiling plate!

You won’t have to cut nearly as big of a hole in your basket this way!

8. Mount your ceiling plate or hook, and then hang your new fixture to make sure everything is straight and level!

I added the plate hardware to the ceiling and attached the plate per the instructions! Note that you may need to use drywall anchors.

Voila!
I am so pleased with how it turned out!

Let’s look at the numbers:

Basket: $25 (I *kinda* don’t even count this, since I had it and it was just sitting lonely in our back room)

Light kit: $9 ($18 for a two pack, and I hung the other one outside)

Rope/Twine: $3 (and I had tons leftover)

Glue + Wire: $0 (I had these on hand and used negligible amounts)

Grand total: $37 for a light that looks MUCH more expensive than that! I’m so happy!

I hope you will give this project a try! As you can see, It really is simple to make, and creates quite an impact in a room. Feel free to take a peek at my tutorial on Instagram, too! It may make the instructions a bit more clear 🙂

Happy creating!