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Repurposed wooden slats from old Venetian blinds were used to create a D.I.Y. pendant light fitting.
The project
I had leftover wooden Venetian blinds collected from hard rubbish, so I decided to try to make myself a wooden pendant light from the slats.
I looked at the various timber offcuts I had and decided to make the top and bottom ring plate with MDF (in future I would definitely use plywood or Pine!). I used a 120mm hole saw to cut four discs of 12mm MDF, then a 100mm hole saw to cut two discs of 3mm ply.
I took two of the large discs and one of the smaller ones and glued them together so that the two large discs sandwiched the smaller one.
The above picture shows discs made from ply. I scrapped these as they weren’t strong enough. But the picture shows the gap you will have between the three circles. This gap will later be used to insert your wood to create the pendant.
I then placed a heavy weight on the discs and allowed the glue to dry overnight.
While the glue was drying I sanded down my blinds, cut each strip at 450mm and then lengthwise into three equal parts. Each strip was about 16mm wide. I cut about 20 pieces, but allow extra for breakage.
I soaked the timber in hot water for an hour in the bath. My son thought it made a great car ramp!
While the timber soaked I made a jig that would allow me to bend the strips so they had to extra flex when I put the pendant together.
I used whatever pegs and screws I had handy as supports and placed them in the holes I drilled. I wiped down the wood strips and carefully bent them around the supports, as you can see below.
I allowed half to dry overnight and then did the other half in the morning. You could make two two jigs to do the whole lot at once.
Once the timber had dried I cut another hole in the centre of the discs to allow light to shine through the bottom and the top, and to insert the light-suspension kit from Bunnings.
I cut the bottom disc with a 70mm hole saw bit, but I made the top hole too big – the suspension kit went right through. I fixed this by adding a large washer inside the pendant. Make sure you measure the fitting and definitely make a smaller hole for the top.
I then inserted four of the wooden strips, equally spaced, then attached them to the top disc.
I then repeated the process until I had 18 strips inserted.
I added some extra nails between the plates for extra support. I sanded and painted ... and there was light!
The thin strips can be moved, so a larger bulb would fit too.
How to make a light disc feature
Bunnings Workshop legend Adam Woodhams has shared this step-by-step guide to making a piece of modern wall-art – an LED light disc that you can adjust the colour of to suit your themes and moods.
Adam has also shared this handy guide: How to install outdoor string lighting.
More project inspiration
Bunnings Workshop member AnitaH25 made this chunky wooden block lamp, which is perfect for showing off decorative light bulbs.
Workshop member eriktank added decorative LED lighting to this wall-mounted timber entertainment unit.
Let us know if you need a hand with your project – we're here to help.
Now that is a brilliant idea! And the pun was not intentional lol You had me sold when you showed the jig you made to bend the veniton slats! 
Love thinking and reusing outside the square! It turned out really nice.
Dave
