Remember that one time I made a lamp out of egg cartons? No? Well I did…as crazy as it sounds I did. I made a lamp out of egg cartons. And why would I do this you ask? Well I was challenged by AllYou Magazine, as part of their ‘Take This, Make That‘ challenge, to repurpose egg cartons into something fun and useful for the home, and to do it all for a total cost of $5 or less. Sounds simple right?

You can find the full challenge in the April Issue of AllYou Magazine.
Ummmmm…well I decided I needed to go hard or go home with this project, so I did something totally crazy and made a lamp. And I may have muttered a few flowery words while I tried to figure out what I was doing, but after it was done, I was so happy with this project! So much so in fact, that I currently have it sitting in my living room and I do use it. It’s actually quite pretty in real life…who knew? 😉
Here is what the lamp looks like with the lights turned off. Fun right?!
And here it is with the lights turned on. I love this lamp!
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So how did I make this you ask? Well, here’s a really quick and simple tutorial for you…don’t be scared…it’s actually very easy to make!
Materials for your Egg Carton Lamp:
- About 9 cardboard egg cartons (the 12 dozen sized)
- Spray paint
- Chicken wire (10 x 20 inches)
- 1 string of 100 LED lights (See tips)
- Floral wire
- Scissors
- Craft knife
How To Make an Egg Carton Lamp:
- Cut out the individual cups from the egg cartons, and trim them to look like flowers.
- Lay the cups out on a plastic sheet and spray paint both the outside and the inside of the cups. Let dry completely.
- Push a lightbulb through each hole in the chicken wire. Use little pieces of the floral wire to tie the lights to the chicken wire.
- Once the lights have all been poked through and attached, form the chicken wire into a cylinder, and tie together with the wire. Stand the cylinder up like a table lamp.
- Using a craft knife, cut an X on the bottom of each egg cup, then push the egg cups on to each of the light bulbs.
- Plug in and enjoy!
Tips for Making an Egg Carton Lamp:
- Use LED lights because they don’t get hot, and you don’t want to start a fire with your lamp! But like with anything, be careful and pay attention to your lamp so that it doesn’t become a fire hazard! So far, my lamp has been great with the LED lights, as they tend to stay cool.
- I used spray paint in the colour aqua, but you can use any colour you like! Have fun!
- This light would look fun on a table or hung from the ceiling.
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There, now I can say I made a lamp out of egg cartons! Never thought I’d ever say that, hee hee!
49 Comments
Tia
April 28, 2014 at 9:33 AMOh my goodness! So creative! I would never have guessed from the photos that it was made with an egg carton — bravo!
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May 2, 2014 at 11:22 AMThanks Tia! this was a fun project!
Shay @ Whine Less, Breathe More
April 28, 2014 at 4:43 PMI am going to make this for my youngest daughter’s room! We redecorated it for her birthday last month. Just yesterday I was thinking how it needed something in one corner. This would be perfect hanging there! Thanks for the idea.
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May 2, 2014 at 11:24 AMYou are so welcome! Have fun with it!
Tara
April 28, 2014 at 10:15 PMLooooove it! It’s so creative – and also, how exciting is it to be in print!?!?!? Great work, Jo-Anna!
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May 2, 2014 at 11:30 AMThank you Tara! 🙂
Leslie
April 29, 2014 at 5:39 AMIt’s very pretty. I’m glad to see you’ve gone back (a bit) to DIY. Although I love your recipies, I like the crafty stuff as well.
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May 2, 2014 at 12:46 PMThanks Leslie! I do love the crafts too and would like to get back to them a bit more…
onel
April 29, 2014 at 6:45 PMThe flowers look so pretty! Smart idea!
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May 3, 2014 at 12:42 PMThank you!!
Yvonne Conlon
April 30, 2014 at 6:11 PMThis is a great idea.it would be lovely on the patio in summer lit with solar lights.
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May 3, 2014 at 12:43 PMSolar lights are a great idea!
Trev
April 30, 2014 at 7:05 PMGreat idea!!!! Think it would look great at Christmas!!! I can picture red or gold
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May 1, 2014 at 7:28 AMThanks! What a great idea for the holidays!
Barb
April 30, 2014 at 7:17 PMYes, everyone had 9 12 dozen sized egg cartons and chicken wire lying around the house! But I love the lamp! Doesn’t look crafty!
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May 1, 2014 at 7:27 AMVery true! I guess I just meant more that the materials for this project are not complicated and easy to find!
Dianna Fortuna
April 30, 2014 at 10:08 PMYou should make a video while making the lamp or at least show all of the items you used so we get the right stuff.
diane
May 1, 2014 at 5:35 AMdid you use Styrofoam or the cardboard egg carton?
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May 1, 2014 at 7:28 AMHi Diane! I used cardboard egg cartons.
Yvonne @ Sunnyside Up-Stairs
May 1, 2014 at 10:03 AMI’m visiting from Hometalk and am floored by how pretty an egg carton lamp could look! I’ll be sure to return for more of your brand of inspiration! =D
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May 2, 2014 at 8:48 AMThank you so much Yvonne! I really enjoyed sharing this project!
Clare Frith
May 1, 2014 at 2:07 PMSuperb idea!
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May 2, 2014 at 8:46 AMThank you Clare!
Sheila
May 1, 2014 at 5:06 PMWhat a wonderful project. Teal is my favorite color. I’m going to give this a try. Putting your tutorial in the ‘to do’ pile. Much thanks.
Sheila
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May 2, 2014 at 8:46 AMThank you Sheila! This was a fun project to share!
Kenyatta Biedermann
May 2, 2014 at 1:24 PMThis is one of the most adorable thing I’ve seen.
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May 3, 2014 at 12:43 PMThank you so much Kenyatta!
Violet
May 4, 2014 at 4:55 AMI wanted to ask, is it safe? I mean, what kind of lightbolbs did you use so that heat won’t cause any problem? Cause I’ve heard stories (no personal experience though) that it could catch on fire.. Don’t mean to degrade your work, it truly looks gorgeous! I’m just a little insecure with lightbolbs. . . Another question.. Are you familiar with paints that are heat resistant? Cause it would be cool to have it in other colors less than grey or blue. Thank you very much! Great work!
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May 13, 2014 at 4:46 PMThat is a good question Violet! I only have experience with my lamp, but I used LED lights so it never seems to get warm, even after being left on all day…
Michelle
May 9, 2014 at 4:31 PMThat is very fun! I think this would be so cute in a dorm room!
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May 13, 2014 at 4:48 PMThank you Michelle!
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May 9, 2014 at 5:55 PMHi!
I love this lamp! Very creative! My daughter would love one for her room in hot pink. We will have to add it to our project “to-do” list. Thanks for sharing!
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May 13, 2014 at 4:47 PMThank you Kristi!!
Carmody
May 9, 2014 at 6:05 PMAmazing!!! This is a fantastic light.
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May 13, 2014 at 4:47 PMThank you Carmody!
Delia @songthatdoesntend
May 11, 2014 at 10:57 AMThis is sooo cool..wow! You are one creative girl 🙂
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May 13, 2014 at 4:47 PMThank you Delia!
Alyssa
May 13, 2014 at 12:23 PMThis is so beautiful and such a unique idea! I just wanted to let you know that I am linking to this post at Simply Creative Living on May 13th if you don’t mind.
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May 13, 2014 at 4:33 PMThanks Alyssa! I don’t mind at all! 🙂
Krista @ the happy housie
May 14, 2014 at 8:06 PMThis is crazy cute and so creative! I love how it turned out:) who would have know?! Wow!
Kelly
June 21, 2014 at 6:47 PMSo very cute! I love flowers, and can’t wait to make one. If goes well, will make more. Thank-You
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June 21, 2014 at 9:03 PMThank you Kelly!
Deb
February 4, 2015 at 11:53 AMReally cute! I thought I’d try this and take it one step further and put actual silk flowers inside the egg cup flowers to embelish further…maybe even incorporate some hanging crystals around the bottom? and some coming out of the flowers…like they have in the wedding supply section of the craft store….
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February 4, 2015 at 3:47 PMOh that sounds amazing! Have fun!
Angelica
April 2, 2015 at 8:19 PMDo you think I’ll mess it up if I paint the eggs cartons before cut them??
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April 4, 2015 at 3:27 PMHi Angelica! I thought about doing that as well, but I worried about the paint possible crumbling as I cut them out. That and the edges would need to be painted after, so I just decided to paint them all after I cut them.
Jo-Anna
Vicki Stotts
July 5, 2015 at 1:48 PMThis is absolutely stunning. I am working on “egg carton” projects at the moment and I actually started following you here and on FB because I was so inspired by this lamp.
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July 7, 2015 at 11:09 PMThank you Vicki! It is one of my favourite projects!
LuAnn
January 8, 2016 at 11:18 AMHi Jo Anna
The egg carton lamps looks gorgeous. Where can I find Christmas lights now? I would need about 6 or7 strings.
Thanks,
LuAnn