I’m always up for a fun repurposing project, and this latest one is one of my all-time favorites. In this tutorial, I’m going to show you how easy it is to turn regular clothespins into a fun, modern lamp.

This is a great lamp for teenager’s rooms or anywhere that you want to add some modern style.

Table of Contents

What You Need To Make This Clothespin Lamp

So for this great DIY lamp, I used wooden clothespins. I really don’t know how well it would work with plastic ones, since you are using this as a lamp and it could get pretty hot. You need a couple of packages of wooden clothespins , which you can get at the Dollar Store for just a couple of dollars per pack.

You also want to make sure that you get the clip type clothespins that have the spring in the center. You don’t need the spring, but you do need two sides for each clothespin, so those more modern ones won’t work here.

How Big Can You Make Your DIY Clothespin Lamp?

I used about 20 clothespins for this project, but you could do more or less, depending on how big you want to make your lamp.

Note that you take the clothespins apart, and you actually get two pieces for each clothespin, so keep that in mind when you are deciding how big you want your lamp to be and how many clothespins you will need.

Do You Need A Lamp Kit?

Not necessarily. You could make an entirely new lamp if you wanted, but you could also just use this as a lampshade and place it over an LED candle or smaller lamp.

How you set it up when you get it finished is entirely up to you. I’m actually only showing you how to make the lampshade and you can decide where to put it when you get it finished.

How To Make A Modern Lamp With Clothespins

If you are looking to add a modern and fun lamp to your home, this DIY modern clothespin lamp is the perfect fit.

This is such an easy project and it’s the perfect lamp for a teen’s room or anywhere that you want to add a contemporary touch to your décor.

Yield: 1

How To Make a Decorative Lamp out of Clothespins

Learn how to turn ordinary clothespins into this fabulous and funky lantern. Watch the video tutorial to see how easy this DIY clothespin lamp is to make.

Prep Time 10 minutes

Active Time 10 minutes

Total Time 20 minutes

Difficulty Easy

Estimated Cost $10

Materials

Wooden Clothespins
Cardboard

Tools

Scissors
Hot Glue Gun

Instructions

Part of the prep part of this project is to take apart your clothespins. You need to determine how many clothespins you need – I used 20 total – and then separate them, taking out the spring mechanism and putting it aside.
Once you have your clothespin halves, you are ready to start assembling your lamp shade.
Lay out three clothespins, creating a triangle with them.
Add hot glue to the corners of each so that you can secure them together.
You are going to repeat this process, building your lamp up as you go along, until it as a tall as you want it to be.
Remember to alternate your design as shown in the video.
Once you have the lamp built up as tall as you want it, you want to trace around it onto the cardboard. This gives you a bottom for adding your candle. Note that if you are going to put this over an actual lamp, you can skip this step.
Now, add your lamp or an LED candle and you’re all set.
Your DIY clothespin lamp should look something like this one:

Recommended Products

My favorite Etsy lamps.

What Other Things Can You Make With Clothespins?

Before Easter, I showed you how to make this adorable clothespin bunny. You can also make some gorgeous DIY wedding photo displays with clothespins and there are some great ideas for turning clothespins into markers in my list of DIY garden markers. And since clothespins are so inexpensive, they are the perfect craft supply for all sorts of DIY projects.