Soda, Pop, Coke. Call that sweet soft drink whatever you’d like, but you’re still left with the plastic vessel long after the fizzy beverage is gone. Only about a quarter of all soda bottles are recycled. That leaves a whole lot of material for projects, like this one.
If you don’t drink much of this carbonated drink yourself, recruit friends and colleagues to collect empties for you. Or do what I did and walk the street on recycling night, liberating them from their bins. Once you have the bottoms reserved for this project, you can either recycle the rest or create your own project from the bottle tops, possibly even a variation on this room divider project. Get started on this chandelier for a bright way to upcycle your soda bottles.
Step 1
Start by cutting the bottom 2 ½” off of your soda bottles. The easiest way to do this is to take a thumbtack and poke a hole just above the area you’d like to keep. Push one end of your scissors through the hole. Cut around the bottle and smooth out any uneven lines. Repeat for all 62 bottle bottoms. You can reserve the soda bottle tops for other projects.
punch holes
punch holes
Step 2
Take 15 soda bottle bottoms and punch a hole on opposite sides of the bottle, about ½” in from the edge.
attach with eyelets
attach with eyelets
Step 3
Take two bottles and line up at the holes. Using your eyelet pliers, push the eyelet through the hole. Secure the eyelet in place with the pliers.
connect 15 bottles into a ring
connect 15 bottles together
Step 4
Repeat for the remaining 13 bottle bottoms. Connect the last one and the first one making a complete circle making sure that the bottom side is facing out.
create 3 rings
create 3 rings
Step 5
Then, create two more rings of 15 bottles. Stack two sets on top of each other, offsetting by a half bottle. Using your permanent marker, mark where each bottle touches. Punch holes at all of these marks.
connect 2 rings together
connect 2 rings together together
Step 6
Connect two rings together using the eyelets and pliers.
repeat
repeat for third set
Step 7
Repeat for the third set of rings.
dome your bottles
dome your bottles
Step 8
Start to dome your bottles in by taking one bottle bottom and connecting in between two bottles on the top tier.
connect 10 bottles
connect 10 bottles
Step 9
Take the next bottle bottom and connect directly on top of the bottle bottom one and a half bottles down from the last one connected. Continue to connect bottles every one and a half bottles until a ring of 10 bottles are connected to the top tier. These next few steps are the trickiest part, getting the bottles to create a dome.
connect the ring
connect the ring
Step 10
Connect the ring of 10 bottles to each other angling them in to create a dome shape.
make a 6 bottle layer
make a 6 bottle layer
Step 11
Take 6 bottles and connect them to the ring of 10 bottles, the same way you did in steps 9 and 10.
drill a hole
drill a hole
Step 12
Take the last bottle bottom and drill a hole through the center using a 1 ¼” spade drill bit. It helps to create a starter hole, as this is the thickest plastic point of the bottle. This is the area that your light cord will pass through.
connect last bottle
connect last bottle
Step 13
Once drilled, take this last bottle bottom and place inside the ring of 6. Connect at all the points it touches the other bottle bottoms. Make any last adjustments necessary to get your bottles to create a dome.
connect chain to lamp frame
connect chain to lamp frame
Step 14
Connect three 16” pieces of ball chain at three equal points around the lamp shade frame.
connect chain pieces
connect chain pieces
Step 15
Run the ball chain through every other bottle in the six bottle ring. Connect with a X” piece of ball chain. This is what will hold your chandelier.
connect light socket
connect light socket
Step 16
Connect the corded light bulb socket to the lamp frame and run the cord through the hole of the center soda bottle bottom. Attach a hook to your ceiling, making sure that it’s securely in place and can hold the weight of the chandelier. Then, plug in your new lamp to shine a new light on upcycling. I recommend an LED bulb, which is more efficient and doesn’t get as hot as an incandescent, but if you choose the latter, keep it below 60 watts to be safe.
- See more at: http://blog.diynetwork.com/maderemade/how-to/transform-soda-bottle-bottoms-into-a-chandelier/#sthash.wN2m5qAC.dpuf