Recycled teacup lights

Domestic Construction's "Ted Lights" are made from recycled teacups -- you can get 'em in singles or clusters. Link (via Cribcandy)

[#1 posted by Takuan , June 17, 2008 11:24 PM]

diamond drilled bottoms? OK for some ceramic I guess, hope they are stress relieved so they don't go POW! from heat one day

[#2 posted by eustace , June 17, 2008 11:27 PM]

What a great idea! DIY lit-up china! You could use a masonry bit if you don't mind breaking a few.

[#3 posted by LOLcat Stevens , June 18, 2008 2:34 AM]

OK, that's a really neat lamp... but if they're just buying new teacups, drilling holes in them and turning them into lighting fixtures, does that actually qualify as recycling? I thought that "recycling" implied rescuing something destined to be waste, not simply repurposing a still-functional item in some novel way. Just sayin...

[#4 posted by OCNCTY , June 18, 2008 4:52 AM]

@ LOLCAT STEVENS:

This would be a case of simply "Cycling".
Once all the bulbs burn out and the cords have frayed, the cups can come down and have the bottoms patched with some plaster of paris to be used as Tea Cups.

This is reverse recycling, or Un-Cycling.

[#5 posted by Jeff , June 18, 2008 5:45 AM]

Takuan, I notice that some of these cups are Correl (sp?), a tempered glass product. Most ceramics will hold up to high heat as long as the shock isn't too great.

[#6 posted by strider_mt2k , June 18, 2008 5:58 AM]

A couple of those actually look quite nice, but all are absolutely acceptable.

Drilling the hole in the bottom is probably the hard part.
I myself also wonder how many were broken in development.

[#7 posted by franko , June 18, 2008 6:29 AM]

dammit, i wish i had though of this. and had electrical skills. i shudder to ask how much they are selling them for.

[#8 posted by James David , June 18, 2008 6:59 AM]

Probably "repurposed" is a better term. Excellent idea - very pretty!

[#9 posted by Anonymous , June 18, 2008 7:40 AM]

Clearly, y'all have never been to the plates and china section of your local resale stores!

You can get all the tea cups, "World's Greatest Dad" coffee mugs, and other dinnerware you could ever want there.

I can even see that some of the cups used in that lamp are patterns that haven't been made in decades, but that I see at the thrift stores all the time.

[#10 posted by Cpt. Tim , June 18, 2008 7:41 AM]

wow. i haven't seen the Spring Blossom pattern in forever.

[#11 posted by Michael R. Bernstein , June 18, 2008 7:54 AM]

Cpt. Tim, It was discontinued several years ago (I had to snag some for my Mom from an outlet store.

Note that even for current patterns they have recently stopped making the teacups from the shatter-resistant Corelle glass, and now they are all made from crappy stoneware.

[#12 posted by Melody Platz , June 18, 2008 8:06 AM]

They are so cute. I want a tea cup lamp. You could go tea party crazy with these. Has anyone else read the fifth Harry Potter? I'm guessing the frog lady professor would really dig these lamps.

[#13 posted by Gloria , June 18, 2008 8:47 AM]

@11: No, no one else has read the fifth Harry Potter.

;-)

[#14 posted by Lea Hernandez , June 18, 2008 8:51 AM]

If it weren't for the fact that these lights are so charming, I would be screaming about Corelle stoneware. Garbage.

[#15 posted by karrock , June 18, 2008 8:53 AM]

Beautiful! Love how the Corelle glows! Being a really old Corningware pattern, I'd think that they're not really really bought "new". More like sourced from flea markets and yard sales I'd imagine. My parents have had their identical set with the brown flowers for 30 or so years.

[#16 posted by Remez , June 18, 2008 9:09 AM]

Shoot, Karrock beat me to posting about how MY parents also have that Corelle pattern with the brown flowers.