Looking for an easy DIY ceiling light? We recently added new lighting to our EcoJarz office space using mason jars and pendant lights. This DIY project is rental friendly and plugs right into the wall socket, no electrician needed!
Our EcoJarz office is located in a warehouse with very tall ceilings and we needed some focused task lighting to brighten up the space. What could be more on brand for EcoJarz than to use mason jars?! Here's how we did it:
We found some simple rope pendant lights that plug into the wall, with a dimmer switch. (We found ours on Amazon.) Each light socket will need a 16 oz. wide mouth mason jar with lid and band. Our pendant light came with three light sockets. Our light sockets were a little less than 1.5 in diameter. You'll want to cut a hole in the lid, slightly larger than the diameter of the light socket. Be sure to measure yours before cutting!
We used a drill press and a 1.5 in. (38 mm) Hole Saw.
If you don't have access to a drill press, you can use a drill and a Step Bit instead. Be sure to clamp the lid to a scrap piece of wood! It's important to drill the hole in the very center of the lid, or the light bulb won't fit inside the glass jar. Be careful not to cut yourself on any metal shards that come off the lid! You can take some sandpaper and carefully smooth out any rough parts around the edges.
Once the holes are drilled, it's time to assemble the light! Most pendant lights come with a threaded nut to hold a lampshade. Unscrew the nut and insert the socket into the jar band and lid. Screw the nut back on to secure the lid and socket together. Now you can screw in the lightbulb and mason jar.
The pendant light is ready to go! We wrapped our lights around the ceiling beam, but you can very easily install some screw hooks into a ceiling or wall to hold these lights. This is so simple, it took us less than an hour!
