I've had this old guitar kicking around my garage for a while now. It belonged to a friend of mine that had asked Scott to check it out and see if there was any chance of salvaging it. Unfortunately, the neck was warped beyond repair, so I asked her if she'd mind my using it for an art project. She agreed, but it was still a while before I decided how to use it.
Tonight, I felt an urge to get crafty, so I pulled it out, drilled some holes in it, sanded it down, then gave it a quick paint job. I drilled a big hole in the back, then fed a rope light into the body. I cut a disk of silver glitter paper out, and fastened it over the center. Tomorrow, we'll find a home for it somewhere on one of our walls.
Update: I've received a lot of requests for more detailed directions on this project. I've been hoping to get my hands on a second guitar so that I can create a tutorial. For now, I'll try to sum things up as best I can without photos.
Upcycled Guitar Lamp Tutorial
You could use these directions to create a night sky scene like I did, or get creative and give it a totally different paint/light job. You could use the same method to create a city skyline, a map of constellations, an outer space scene, or something totally abstract.
You'll need:
- An old guitar
- Sandpaper
- A power drill with multiple size bits
- A string of fairy (Christmas) lights (I used a rope light, but regular lights would also do)
- Paint
- Sponges or brushes to paint with
- Glittered cardstock for the moon (optional)
- I started by sanding down all the surfaces of the guitar that I planned to paint. For my project, that was the whole front of the guitar and the front of the neck. I didn't paint or sand the sides or back, though you certainly could, depending on the look you are going for.
- Once I was done sanding, I took a power drill and started drilling tiny circles all over it. I used different drill bits to give the "stars" a random kind of appearance. On the back of the guitar, I drilled out a much larger hole, just big enough for the tube of lights to fit through.
- After drilling, I gave the guitar another quick sanding to make sure the edges on the holes were nice and smooth. After that, I used a sponge to paint a blue sky out of light blue, dark blue, black, and white. I did a couple of layers of sky, let them dry, then added clouds using the sponge again, with white and grey paint.
- You could stop there, but I decided to cover the hole in the guitar. I cut out a circle of thick, silver glittered cardstock that was just about the same size as the hole in the guitar (maybe a little larger). I slid the cardstock through the guitar strings to keep it there, and off-set it just a little to let some light through around the edges.
- Feed the lights through the hole in the back of the guitar, doing your best to help them distribute evenly inside. The rope light does a great job of this, being large and kind of stiff. It might be harder with regular fairy lights. Obviously, leave enough of the cord out at the end to plug them in. If you want, you can secure the cord in the hole with a little duct tape or glue.
That's it! I hope these directions help. Good luck with your project. I'd love to see it when you are finished.