DIY Bedside Lamp

Ever since I had my own room, I fancied having a bedside lamp which I could use for reading and then switch off just before dozing off; no need to shoot the light! (brilliant idea by Mr. Bean!). After the wedding when I was redoing Puneeth’s bachelor room into something more pretty, for the lack of a better word, I was absolutely sure of fulfilling my old childhood wish. Now that was a time when all of our money had already gone into the wedding and redecorating (actually decorating, there was no “decoration” before :P) the room was on a shoe string budget. The bedside table was an old kitchen shelf with a new coat of paint, the shoe cabinet (for my enormous collection of footwear) was commissioned to the local carpenter and left without lamination to reduce the cost and for the distressed look (unintentional but a pleasing result :P), the laundry basket was a Fabindia knock off with a regular basket etc etc (you get the drift right). So I decided to go the DIY way for the table lamp too. Out of all the useless recycled gifts we got in the wedding (no offence to anyone who actually gave one of them :P), there was a bamboo vase (thank you Vishal) which I converted into the base for the lamp. Now both Puneeth and I are not too keen on flowers (real or artificial) and so as a result vases too and we would never have used it as a vase ever anyway. And while we are on the topic, I feel bouquets are a real waste of money, I don't know what to do with them and they are so impersonal, more impersonal than giving cash I feel (ya I am shamelessly hinting that next time give me cash rather than bouquets :D). Anyway, I procured a lampshade from Fabindia (c’mon I had to indulge my Fabindia craving somehow) and put them together for my own nifty lampshade (yappadi J)

Steps:

1. Scour for a base for the lampshade (vases, wine bottles, old lamps etc).
2. Buy or make the lampshade (they come quite cheap, around 250 onwards).
3. Buy bulb holder, a plug and some wire.
4. Make a hole in your base of the lamp for the wire to pass through.
5. You might have to do some jugaad to keep the bulb holder in place if the mouth of the vase is wider. You can use an old cd/dvd as it already has a hole in the middle or you can make a hole in a discarded plastic lid by using a candle to melt the plastic. There are many options, see what works for you best. I used the lid of an old ashtray for the same. 
6. It’s pretty easy once you have figured out how to keep the bulb holder in place, just attach your wire to the holder and the plug.
7. Plug your lampshade in and enjoy a nice book J

This is what I feel like doing when I am all cozily tucked in bed only to realize the light has been left on :D