Winners 'Progress toward circularity' Marie Claire Sustainability Awards

Make a Jelly Mould Pendant Lamp

New year, new (yet old) interiors.

Ready to give your home a vintage makeover? Dragon's Den entrepreneur and TV presenter Max McMurdo shows you how to make these simple yet beautiful lampshades, constructed using iconic aluminium jelly moulds. You can pick these up for next to nothing at yard sales and charity shops. Who could resist their nostalgic charm?

If you produce a set of three you can create a real feature above a dining table or a kitchen breakfast bar. If you are lucky enough to find them, maybe you could splash out and use copper moulds. To complete the vintage look you can use old-fashioned braided cloth electrical cable, which is easy to source online.

This project has been taken from Max McCurdo's book Upcycling: 20 Projects Made from Reclaimed Materials with kind permission of Quarto.

Jelly mould pendant lamps hanging

What you'll need to make this jelly mould pendant lamp:

  • Old metal jelly (jello) moulds
  • Light fitting and cable
  • Lampshade collar
  • Pen and ruler
  • Hole saw
  • Hammer
  • Centre punch
  • Curved file

 

Step 1: 

Find the centre of the top of the jelly (jello) mould and mark with a pen.

Mark the jelly mould

Step 2:

Create an indent on the mark using a centre punch. This will stop the drill from slipping on the smooth metal.

Hammering a puncher into the back of the jelly mould

Step 3:

Using a hole saw cut a hole slightly larger than the diameter of your lamp holder. 

Using a green drill, a hole is being drilled into the top of the jelly mould.

Step 4:

Smooth the edges of the hole with a curved file.

Filing the edges of the hole that had been drilled into the silver jelly mould

Step 4:

Thread the lamp holder through the hole. Use a lampshade collar to keep it in place. Finally, fit the bulb. If you are just replacing the shade you can fit this yourself, but if you are replacing the cable you will need a qualified electrician to do this for you.

Adding a bulb into the jelly mould pendant

LED lament bulbs are great for this as they not only look beautiful but also don’t get hot like traditional lament bulbs.

Adding an LED lament bulb into the jelly mould pendant

Congratulations! You've completed your jelly mould pendant lamp.

For your next project, why not Learn to smoke-fire your ceramics or have a browse through our other courses, including papercraft, ceramics, drawing and macrame.

Did you make this jelly mould pendant lamp? Share it with us and our community on Instagram - #yodomomakes - we love to see your creations!

Back to Free Making Projects