How do I Develop Light Fixtures?

Select a lightbulb with an Edison screw base, such as certain LED, compact fluorescent and incandescent bulbs. Minimize long-term cost and hassle of frequently replacing bulbs by selecting an LED bulb. LED bulbs have about 40 times longer life than incandescent bulbs and compact fluorescent bulbs have about an eight times longer life span. Use an LED bulb that resembles an incandescent light bulb if you are using it in a decorative area of your home. Make sure it has an Edison screw base that fits most existing light bases.

Find a light fixture base with a simple wooden dowel as its post and an Edison screw lightbulb base.

Select either rice paper or thin frosted plexi-glass as the enclosure or lampshade material.

Draw the size of the light enclosure to scale relative to its base.

Make a frame using thin wooden sticks to make one side of a four-sided boxed enclosure. Stack six wooden sticks into a square shape and overlap their corners.

Lay two sticks parallel to each other so that they are almost the same distance apart as they are long.

Stack two parallel sticks on top of the ends of the first two sticks, so that they are perpendicular to the first two sticks. Glue the corners together.

Stack another two sticks perpendicular to the last two and glue all of the corners together. Repeat this to create another frame. Glue two frames together to sandwich the rice paper or frosted plexi-glass between them.

Create frames for the other three sides of the enclosure.

Allow all the frames' glue to dry.

Glue all the sides of the light fixture together to form an open cube with an open top and bottom.

Tie a piece of string from each inner corner of the open cube to an opposing corner to create a cross support to attach the light enclosure to the lamp base.