If you haven’t already begun to amass your collection of artisanal Patrón bottles for the Art of Patrón contest, not to worry there is still plenty of time. But certainly don’t delay because come July 17th, the contest will close and the judging will begin with a total of $19,000 in prizes at stake – one grand prize winner will walk away with an enormous $10,000 grand prize and each of 9 runners up will win a $1000 prize! So put your maker hats on and create something special using those gorgeous handmade Patrón bottles because you just might find yourself a bit richer from the experience… literally. Details for entry and all pertinent contest info can be found on the Art of Patrón contest page.
To give you a bit of a creative kick in the pants and spark your imagination, I will share with you all of the steps and helpful tidbits I discovered while making what I consider to be one of my favorite projects to date. Perhaps I feel this way about every project, but this one is indeed particularly special because even the Mister loves it, it is exceptionally functional, it’s absolutely gorgeous and best of all… completely customizable. All of my favorite things…
Before I let you loose at the hardware store to round up your supplies, here is a little recap on two of the tastiest tequila based cocktails this side of the Mississippi! You know… so you have an excuse to empty those bottles without wasting the deliciousness inside. I think a summer soiree and crafter-hours get together is in order to help you collect some of the most important pieces for recreating this project – or for your very own masterpiece to enter into the Art of Patrón contest!
Alright, let’s get to it…
MATERIALS //
Supplies are for 1 sconce – Double all supplies except: ¾” Copper Pipe, Candelabra Base, Pipe Cutter, and Copper Pipe Straps to make 2 sconces.
1 – Candelabra Socket with Switched Cord and Plug
1 – Pipe Cutter
1 – LED Exit Sign Light or Night Light with Candelabra Base
1 – Patrón Bottle
Before we can begin to assemble your sconce, we need to do some prep work which means a bit of cutting and some deconstructing.
Copper Cut List //
Feel free to get creative with your arrangement here, but there are a few pieces at the top of this list that need to remain short in order to accommodate the switched cord. You will see what I mean in just a minute.
1 – ½” Copper Pipe at 2”
1 – ½” Copper Pipe at 1 ½”
1 – ½” Copper Pipe at 16” (this is subjective and can be cut to desired length)
1 – ¾” Copper Pipe at 2”
Now this (in my opinion) is where the magic happens… aside from the actual magic that happens when you plug this puppy in and she warms your heart and soul with a job well done.
So you are going to cut your switched cord, right up underneath the black socket and clip. Ok, now you want to cut this as close as possible since you need all the extra cord between your switch and the ends of the wires as you can possibly get. This might seem counter-intuitive since technically the switched cord would work as it is, just fine. But you guys, it’s not cute, so keep on keeping on and you get to play electrician (kind of) for a hot minute, which is soooo fun.
Once you cut off the socket portion, you are going to pull the two sections of cord apart at the top, for about 2 inches. Once they are separated and look a bit like a snake tongue, you can strip the top ¼” or so of the rubberized coating from each section of your cord.
// Now set all these pieces aside for a second since you will actually rewire this after you thread everything through the pipes. Yep, found this out the hard way, maybe it’s true what they say about blondes after all? Duh… that they have more fun? Because doing the same thing over and over again is so fun? Yes, truly.
These two beauties up above are the Reducer Tee and your 2” piece of ¾” pipe and they will fit together to form what we are going to use to make our own amazing looking socket cover. Now isn’t this so much better looking than the base and clip from your cord a few minutes ago? Yes, I totally agree.
Now we get to thread our cord through as we attach our ½” copper pipe pieces. Each piece is labeled below so you can see where everything connects and I will outline the threading order just in case it’s difficult to see or read! You can do this portion laying everything out flat on a surface, it was simply easier for me to strap it to the wall to show you, without trying to juggle the camera and all of the pieces.
Start by threading your cord through your 2 inch section and then up through your elbow piece. Fit each pipe fitting together tight and pull your cord through carefully, but firmly so there is no slack in the line. You will truly need every last inch of this thing. Next, thread your cord through the 1 ½” section and then into and up through your reducer tee. Your reducer tee should have the largest opening at the top. You can attach the lower 16 inch section now if you like, or wait till the end, it really doesn’t make much of a difference just yet. Once your cord is sticking up and out the top of your reducer tee, you will tie the two split sections of it in an underwriters knot. This image below via, is a great diagram of what this will look like and what it’s for!
Once you are all tied up you can attach your ¾” piece of pipe to the reducer tee and get ready to wire your socket.
Thread the cords up through the metal portion of your socket and then the cord with the ribbed edge will be attached to the silver screw and the smooth cord will attach to the gold screw. The easiest way to do this is to twist all of the teeny tiny wires together for each of your cords into something of a point so they are easier to wrap around their respective screws. Then simply use a leftover piece of your ½” pipe if you need a bit of help taming any of the flyaways and gently place it over your screw to let it help you wrap those stray pieces down and back under your screw as you gently tighten in place. The instructions on your package will reiterate which wire to connect where so don’t worry if you forget or feel nervous.
It will look a little something like this:
Now slide your cardboard socket cover over the top as indicated on your package, and you would be ready to give your wiring a little test run with your bulb!
If everything works as expected, unplug and secure in your desired location using two straps and appropriate wall anchor screws for your particular type of wall. If you can secure to a stud, all the better. Once it is all secured tightly in place, add your gorgeous bottle shade and watch the stars come out at night… it’s quite a special show that I will let you experience for yourself. This gorgeous little secret makes this project worth doing all on its own.
This project brought to you in partnership with Patrón Tequila in honor of the Art of Patrón, a contest for makers and a celebration of the handmade. I hope you take a chance and see where your imagination takes you. The prize alone makes it worthwhile, but the satisfaction of making something special using very special materials is priceless.
