Some projects come together in a weekend. This was not one of those projects.
I've been working on this lamp on and off for the past several months, squeezing in glass cutting, foiling, soldering, and pattern tweaks whenever I could. There were times I thought I'd never finish it, but I'm so glad I stuck with it.
Today I'm excited to finally share the Enchanted Candles Lamp.
This lamp is an original WandlitWindow design from start to finish. I designed both the stained glass pattern and the lamp form myself, making this project uniquely my own from the very first sketch.
The inspiration probably isn't hard to guess. I've always loved the bewitched floating candles and star-filled night sky above the Great Hall at Hogwarts. This had to be a lamp, though, so it could be backlit at night. A flat stained glass panel just wouldn't have done it justice.
The finished lamp contains 245 individual pieces of glass. Every candle, every flame, every star, and every section of the night sky was individually cut, foiled, and soldered by hand. It was definitely a labor of love—and often a test of my patience!
Choosing the glass is one of my favorite parts of every project because the right glass can completely transform how a piece looks once it's illuminated.
For the Enchanted Candles Lamp, I chose:
- Oceanside Navy Blue Waterglass for the rich night sky.
- Oceanside Yellow Transparent Waterglass for the candle flames (which really do appear to flicker when the lamp is lit!)
- White/Yellow Mottled Glass (I believe from Youghiogheny) for the candle bodies.
- Dichroic Glass from Delphi for the stars, adding beautiful sparkle and depth whenever they catch the light.
To complete the piece, I wired the shade to a standard light socket and used a swag hanging kit to turn it into a fully functional hanging lamp.
I'm honestly obsessed with how this lamp turned out. It's incredibly rewarding when an idea that lives in your head for months finally becomes a finished piece—and even more rewarding when it turns out almost exactly the way you imagined.
I will be selling my pattern for this lamp. Look for that to be posted this weekend!