Hand Made Jellyfish Lights Using Recycled Christmas Lights and Repurposed Electrical Conduit

A pair of funky lamps I made that remind me of jellyfish

so that's what I'm calling them

I started with this pair of pendant lights from IKEA. 

I had thought I would hang silverware around the edges so I stopped by 

the thrift store looking for mismatched silverware.

Then I spotted two bags of clear bubble Christmas garland lights

and it made me think of jellyfish.

They were sold "as is" so I didn't know if they worked but it didn't matter

since all I was after were the clear, opalescent-y plastic globe pieces

that were going to become part of the jellyfish tentacles.

I started by cutting the light strands and removing all the wires.

I was left with two sizes. 

At this point I didn't really have a definite plan for how I was going to assemble

them, but I did have a vision of how I wanted them to look.

I had a pile of salvaged conduit wire. 

It is metal tubing with electrical wires inside.  

I've used it for other projects before and it's fun to work with

and it just looks cool and swirly when you unravel it.

To use just the swirly metal part you start by unraveling one end to expose the wires...

Once the wires are exposed, you can just pull them out. 

They are wrapped in plastic and easily slide out. 

 If you really want to recycle, you can save the green, white 

and black wire and use for other recycled projects.  

After the wires are out, you pull it apart and it will start to separate and uncoil.

  You may want to wear gloves for this part.

It's not really sharp until you start cutting it but it will rough up your hands.

You can also use it as is without uncoiling and incorporate into different projects. 

I got all involved and forgot to take more "during" pics but I had

unraveled the conduit and added the clear balls in random patterns 

to make eight strands per light.

To attach my conduit/clear ball strands to the lights, I drilled eight holes around the edges

of the metal pendants. I threaded lengths of thin wire through the holes, using

a clear bead on top to secure it and attached the conduit strands to this wire.

You can see the clear beads here on the outside of the pendant.

I added more of this thin wire as well and made it spiral-y by winding

the wire around the end of a paintbrush...or pencil, whatever you have.

Here they are unlit. They aren't going in my house, 

I'll be taking them to my booth where I sell my pieces, 

so I hung them off of my chandelier in the kitchen to photograph.

I think they look pretty cool, they are definitely one of a kind.

They are all swirly and "other worldy"...

They really do look very pretty all lit up!

These lights are sold, thanks so much for reading about

 my DIY Jellyfish lights.

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