Okay, I guess it is official. I am obsessed with creating my own light fixtures! When you have an already strung light kit, it is so easy to swap out the pendant piece to make a completly new and different looking fixture in an afternoon. And if you have a Glowforge, it’s even easier, because it makes the woodworking part a breeze. Today I wanted to share this DIY half circle pendant light that I made from laser cut MDF wood. After laser cutting the wood and adding paint and a little wood glue, I had a charming new plug in bedside pendant light.

Isn’t it pretty? And it goes so well with my nightstand mini dresser knob backplates! By the way, I am really loving this color scheme of pink, coral, mustard, and teal lately. What do you think about it?

Materials to make your own DIY Half Circle Pendant Light:

• 1/8″ MDF sheets (two 12″ by 20″)
• Glowforge laser cutter
• This PDF template
• Acrylic craft paint
• Wood glue
• Pendant light kit
• Paint brush

Instructions

Begin by cutting out your wood shapes (you need to two of each piece to form the whole pendant, that means cut the template twice) from the MDF plywood on your Glowforge. If you don’t have access to a laser cutter, you can always look for craft wood circles and cut them in half to make the half circles. Then cut a piece of MDF to the size of the largest half circle using a miter saw and then drill a hole in the center of the rectangle. Or just buy the pre cut kit here.

Once you have your shapes, remove the masking (if using laser cutting MDF) and paint them the colors of your choice.

Once you have your pieces cut, use the wood glue to attach the half circles to each other lining up the flat edge of each piece. You should have two “rainbows” at this time. Next, glue the two rectangle pieces together painted sides out. Let the glue dry over night. Once dry, glue the rainbows to the rectangle pieces and use books or another heavy item to keep the half circle pieces in place until the glue dries.

Once dry, simply thread the end of your light kit wire through the hole and wire to your plug end or to your ceiling wire box.

The Results

As you can see, the light bulb rests between the two half circles, so when you view the pendant from the side the bulb is visible. But from the front it is a fun patterned pendant fixture. I think the DIY half circle pendant light looks amazing as a bedside pendant since it is small, but tell me where you would put it!