{pinterest party} twig pendant

Today I'm super excited to reveal my latest diy project. I'm linking up to the Pinterest Party, hosted by Young House Love, Bower Power, The Great Indoors and Hi Sugarplum, and this party could not have come at a better time. Mostly because it was the kick in the pants I need to finish the project that's been sitting half-finished in my basement since .... the beginning of January. Wah-wah. BUT, it's done and I could not be happier. 

The Problem.

When I moved into our house, the lighting was horrible: outdated, dingy and in some places simply missing. Slowly we've been replacing each out-dated light with something fancy, bright and fun: a capiz pendant in the nook, a drum shade in the living room, a pendant in the back entry, a new lovely in the hallway and new outdoors lights at both doors. We were down to one awful light left: a builder-basic fan in our bedroom.

Ick. I knew I didn't want a fan in the space ... we've used the existing one all of twice in the last two years. For a while I thought about installing the CB2's Eden Pendant (the same one as our living room). But then inspiration struck.

The Inspiration.

Inspiration is a funny thing, right? I LOVE branches. Besides making an amazing statement in any room, they also bring the outdoors in and give the room an instant laid-back, rustic feel. All things that fit perfectly with our house style.

The first inspiration pin is from Sweet Paul Magazine. Which, actually reminds me that it's time to go cut a few branches off our plum tree and bring them in!

The second inspiration is a hanging twig lamp from The Light Store.

I liked these both, but I wasn't sure what to do with it. But, like I said, inspiration is a funny thing. These two images hung out in brain until a walk through Ikea.

Solution.

I came across these twigs at IKEA:

While innocent enough, my brain made a huge connection. I have a small collection of pendant shades at home. Why not combine the two? So I snatched up the twigs and set out creating my own twig light. Fast forward three months later, and I have the finished product!

The twigs went from that bundle, to this lovely light!

It all started with a simple, cream pendant.

(10 points to anyone who can name the show I was watching.)

And hanging up? Gorgeousness.

I love that it adds a touch of rustic and texture to the space. I thought about painting it white, but I actually really love the contrast of the natural brown.

Here's the lamp at {sort of} dark. It glows :).

Updated: If you'd like to make your own twig pendant, I've posted a tutorial here.

So tell me friends .... have you ever made anything out of twigs? In what ways to bring the outdoors in?