I admit it, I believe in UFOs. I’ve seen them, honestly! I even captured a picture of two of them, see:

Yup, we have two UFOs that are frequently seen in our kitchen. Why did I purchase and install them when we first moved in? I’ll never know. Don’t get me wrong, they aren’t horrible, but they just don’t go with the casual country vibe I want in my kitchen.

In true Frugal Handy Girl fashion, I set out to Lowe’s to see if I could find a fix for my extraterrestrial pendant lights (and avoid buying new lamps.)

In what I call devine intervention (or maybe guided by an out-of-body entity), I stumbled upon a lone scalloped metal collar in the heating and cooling section. There was no price tag and no others to be found. I was crest fallen until I snagged the nearby Lowe’s employee to ask if they had any more. He said, “Oh definitely, this is in the wrong section. There are more by the water heaters.” He ran away before I could smother him with kisses and hugs.

Sure enough, at the back of the store I found 4″ Storm Collars which fit perfectly over my pendant light. (Bring your light with you to double check the fit.)

Oh happy day! There were more of these scalloped pretties! I grabbed a second one and a can of Rustoleum High Heat Copper and ran out the door (after paying of course.) Then I did some Dr. Frankenstein style surgery and married the two. And here are the surgical notes for you.

Materials:

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How to Remove Track Lights:

Removing track style lighting is truly an easy task. Turn off the light switch powering the track. Grasp the top of your track light, pull the  sliding tab down and twist clockwise. Pull down to remove the light. Done.

 

Creating Metal Pendant Lights:

Turn the UFO pendant light upside down. Remove the halogen light bulb. (Side note: I never touch halogen bulbs with my fingers. The bulbs get so hot, that the oils on your fingers can damage the bulb. So I always use a rag.)

Use a screwdriver to remove the screws holding the glass shade in place. Save the screws for later.

Remove any stickers from the storm collar.

Use GooGone to remove any sticker residue. Then clean the collar throughly with soap and water.

Clean off any dust and dirt (or splashed juice!) off the pendant light. Then lightly rough up all the metal surfaces with a fine grit sanding block.

Rough up the interior edge of the storm collar (where the pendant light and the storm collar will be attached.) Wipe the light and storm collar clean.

Cover the light bulb socket with tape to keep anything from falling into it. Slip the storm collar over the down shaft of the pendant light. Make sure the storm collar fits snugly over the pendant. Gently bend the collar to eliminate any gaps. For proper adhesion, the metal surfaces must touch each other.

 

Soldering the Metals Together:

If you are comfortable soldering metal together, go ahead and join the collar and the pendant light as shown. If you have never soldered before, you may want to practice first and forego the soldering on this project.

If you are using J B Weld instead of soldering, mix two equal amounts of the JB Weld and line the outside rim of the pendant. Slip the collar over the pendant light to join the two. Set the pendant light aside where it won’t be disturbed and can harden.

After the weld has hardened, it’s time to paint! Cover all the parts of your pendant lamp that you don’t want to be painted. And cover the light socket again.

Coat the pendants with two or more light coats of the Rustoleum high heat copper paint. Also spray the ball caps from the screws that held the glass in place. (Side note: I used the high heat paint because the halogen bulbs really heat up the metal around them and I didn’t want to risk the paint bubbling off in the near future.) 

After the paint has dried, re-attach the screws and painted ball caps back through the holes in the pendant lamp. They won’t fit snug anymore, but at least they cover the hole.

Re-install your pendant lights (don’t forget to turn off the light switch while installing.)

Oh beautiful farmhouse style pendants, how do I love thee. Let me count the ways:

One

Two

And just in case you forgot what those UFO pendants looked like, before:

And now beautiful copper pendants, after:

What do you think? Can you tell that they used to be UFOs? Or that I used a storm collar for a water heater? Tell the truth!

Disclosure: I have partnered with Lowe’s as a Lowe’s Creative Influencer. I was provided with a Lowe’s gift card to complete my project. The tutorial, photos and opinions expressed in this post are my own. I was not told what to write. #LowesCreator

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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  1. […] Farmhouse Copper Pendant Lights […]

  2. […] How to make farmhouse style metal pendant light – pretty Thanks rita! i still can’t get over that the collar was the exact same size as my pendant light. meant to be i tell ya!. […]

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