You’ve seen them everywhere: little cordless lamps glowing on dinner tables, bookshelves and bar carts. You want a few for the holidays. Then you check the price for a set of three, and you start wondering whether the dining table really needs mood lighting this year.
This is not your fault. Store-bought lamps add up fast when you want more than one. But the effect, a small shaded glow at table height, doesn’t have to come from a lighting store. One creator built hers from things most people can find in a kitchen cabinet and a craft aisle.
Where the idea came from
As Apartment Therapy reported, Instagram creator Carolyn Covington (@carolyncoving) wanted a cordless table lamp and found the perfect base in a simple wine glass. She topped it with a small lampshade and lit it with a flameless candle. It took her less than two minutes to make and required zero tools, and her video drew more than 30,000 likes.
The reason it works is the glass. Apartment Therapy notes that a clear, thin base helps the LED light glow, so the whole stem lights up instead of just the shade.
The cost is low, too. The article lists two small floral lampshades from Amazon for under $34 and a set of twelve flameless flickering votive candles for under $7.
How to make your own
- Pick a glass. Any wine glass works. Apartment Therapy suggests thrift-store bar glasses, and a clear, thin glass lets the light glow through.
- Add the light. Set a flameless votive candle inside the glass.
- Top it with a shade. Rest a small lampshade on the glass so it sits steady and covers the light.
- Use the extras. With a set of twelve candles, put a few in the lamps and scatter the rest around the place settings, as the article suggests.
- Swap shades for the season. Change the lampshades to match the tablescape or the occasion’s colors.
Plan B if the shade wobbles: try a glass with a wider rim or a smaller shade, and set the lamp on a flat, stable surface away from busy elbows.
One rule that isn’t optional
Use flameless candles only. A real flame under a fabric or paper shade is a fire risk. The U.S. Fire Administration says to keep candles at least 12 inches away from anything that burns, and suggests considering battery-operated flameless candles, which can look, smell and feel like real candles. It also notes that, on average, 20 home candle fires are reported each day, citing the NFPA.
Know the limits, too. A stemmed wine glass topped with a shade is lighter and less stable than a real lamp, so it’s a decoration for the table, not something for a bedside or a spot where kids and pets play. And a votive gives soft accent light, not enough to read by.
If you’re planning a full holiday table, these woodland Christmas tablescapes offer plenty of ideas. Swap any real candles near greenery for flameless ones.
A wine glass, a small shade and a flameless candle. That’s the trick.
