Steel Roses

A shimmering lamp-shade made from steel wool scrubbers.

Twinkle, shine, sparkle, shimmer, glitter, and glimmer – let’s make our homes a little more brighter!

Steel wool scrubber – it is such an exciting element. Yes seriously! Whenever I see them they remind me of blooming, shiny-grey fantasy roses! Sans the delicate fragrance, of course.

So to make a lamp out of it was an idea, which has been tickling me since when. The first thing was to go shop for a few of these scrubbers.  The shop-keeper wondered what we needed so many scrubbers for. How many utensils he presumed we had to wash?

To tie up the scrubbers in a concentric fashion was our starting point to make the lamp. One scrubber in the center, attached to five petalling scrubbers around it. Followed by another couple of rounds. Each scrubber needed to be attached to each side of the adjacent scrubbers. 

Our canopy of the steel wool was thus ready. Now, the shape that we form can be as per our liking. We can either make a complete round ball-like structure or keep it like a half-opened-umbrella structure. I preferred the latter. In order to make the structure more defined; we inter-spaced thin yet strong metal wires around the circular layers of the structure. Thus, we get defined shape and solidarity.

The next step was to attach our steel canopy to a hanging light-bulb fixture (the one we used is from Ikea – they are inexpensive and easily available locally too). Lastly, it is time to hang this quirky steel-wool DIY lamp in our house – over the dining table or in a conspicuous corner.

From a lousy utensil cleaner to a definite head-turner: this journey seems quite transformational.

Twinkle, shine, sparkle, shimmer, glitter, and glimmer – our homes are now very much more brighter!

Just like clothes-fashion, where a little bit of bling can transform your entire look – so is the case with our homes. Add bling in appropriate doses to make your home stand out. Bling on cushions, lamps, photo-frames, all will make your home more glamorous and eye-catchy. One caution – not to overdo it!