This is a potential DIY project for anyone with a few old sets of miniblinds laying around. I think in nearly every apartment I’ve ever moved into there is at least a few dusty miniblind shades tucked in a corner somewhere. The above piece is named Dawn and is a creative reuse project.
We found this lamp at RePlayGround and thought others might be inspired by the idea. “Dawn is an environmentally conscious lamp. She not only references nature in her sunny shape and color, she is also made from recycled miniblinds.”
The required materials are miniblinds, a base light fixture (hanging pendant, old table lamp, etc) and a central hub depending on the style you choose. The trickiest part is the central anchoring hub, the one pictured above is a custom piece made from metal. A home fix for this could even be an old apple corer.
From here you could try a homemade green glue alternative using gum arabic and plaster of Paris to attach the miniblind blades. You could also punch holes or cut designs in the blinds to add flare and originality.
Or better yet create an overlapping effect by pinning blades of varying lengths at each end to accomplish a shell design. Of course all of these will take some savvy arts and craft skills to make an appealing (and safe) lamp, but the possibilities are endless.
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Seems to me like you could use tinkertoys to fabricate that hub
@ Tony
That would be perfect!
Hey Green Upgrader – thanks for the shout out on the lamp! Love the new solution for the shell version. It looks great! Happy recycling!
Need to warn people that many plastic blinds are coated with LEAD. Suggest that all plastic mini-blind material go to landfill unless you can confirm them lead-free in writing from original source. Nobody will give that written guarantee on cheap mini-blinds, I’ll wager.
Safety first!
Really fascinating understand this. Once cleaning my window blinds I take them down and put them in the bathtub with Dawn dish washing liquid. I let the soak and the rinse till the water runs clear. You might need do this a couple of times. The blinds are easiest to handle when they are pulled all the way up once you take them off the window. Loosen them in the tub.
These are awesome! Thank you a lot!