Dumpster diving in search of light.

Recycling is an in thing to do these days, even in the western world where I hail from. It's been a way of life in Eastern Europe for a long time. Ever since the early 90's when my colleague Joan and I arrived in Lviv we saw that. From our kitchen we had a good view of the trash can and Joan would give me the reports on what was going on out there. We got sort of partial to one she called "The Old Man"; we would even put out special stuff for him. The Old Man had class; he always had an entourage of dogs with him; they weren't Corgis, and they weren't on leashes either, but they followed him everywhere. Seems he always shared some of the good stuff with his dogs and they became his loyal followers.
There are lots of different divisions of trash picking; The Old Man was pretty much into subsistence trash picking, but a person can specialize in paper, fabric, glass, plastic, and I don't know what else.

Some are very professional in their approach, I've seen them use gloves and a mask. Others may use a stick to poke around in the trash bin and fish out their spoils. You can always hear the bottle collectors coming because of the musical clinking sound of bags of empty beer bottles. They may have a plastic sack full in each hand. With a practiced eye they walk past trash cans to scan the contents as they go by. Any bottle which is visible is fished out and added to the menagerie of vodka, wine, beer and who knows what other kinds of bottles.
Well...my latest project has been getting our apartment in Rivne livable. One thing we need there is lamps. I don't want to buy lamps, that's too boring, why not be resourceful and make lamps? There is a collection of informative sites on the web with very helpful ideas and instructions on how to use what's on hand to make your own stuff instead of buying everything you want.
So today I made my first glass bottle lamp.
I was out walking to the hardware supply store to get wiring and switches for my project when I saw some really good bottles. Some of them were just on the ground at my feet, there were several good ones in trash cans, but I resisted snatching any of them. As I gathered more bottles I noticed I was clinking musically as I went along scanning all around looking for prizes. By the time I got to the store I had a bunch of bottles in my bag. It looked kind of grungy too because the bag had holes in it and someone had written "Anita's prep things" on it, so that was kind of embarrassing as a person could well understand. I went to lock up my treasures in one of the store lockers, but this place is so up town and classy that you have to check all your bags at the wardrobe when you enter. Well, I've dealt with these kinds of wardrobe ladies before, they can be very snooty because of their high profile job. I weighed up the situation and decided not to check my bags, but to simply stash my goods outside the store by the trash can.
One thing you need for this project is a diamond tipped drill bit. I researched drilling holes in glass a good bit before I started this project; I put the bottles in a tub of water with water covering the surface I was going to work on. I managed to do 3 bottles without any accidents.
The next step is to get the light socket wired up.
And here is the finished product.
looks crooked in real life too...
I had a blast as I was making this, but collecting the bottles was almost like crossing a fine line into another cast. I walked for a half an hour to get home rather than clinking onto a bus and avoiding everyones' politely averted eyes (we don't stare at trash pickers). So for my next project (making drinking glasses by cutting the tops off of bottles) I know where to go. I'm buying 6 beautiful, empty wine and champaign bottles from the trash pickers! But for that I need one of these I wonder if Ange will bring me one?
I'm giving this lamp away to my friend, because her dad gave me some tips on drilling into bottles. You know who you are! You can pick it up at Artseulova. :)
One more thing: does anyone have any ideas for a lampshade? How to make one from scratch like?