Is It a Smiling Night Light or a Pink Mood Light?

Looking for things to make? Well, maybe this build can give you some project ideas.

Some time ago I made this rather unusual small smiling night light out of wood and was now asked to make another one which would take a role of a mood light (a housewarming gift). The first lamp was made with a cnc machine but I decided to make this one without it. It meant a bit more work but a fun thing to make as an after - work woodworking project. Although this wooden lamp has minimalist lines I would say its character deserves some funky touch and therefore pink it is!

Step 1: The Dimensions and Components

The size of this small unusual lamp is dictated mostly by the source of light. I chose a G9 LED bulb to do the job and the lamp ended up being 145x75x60 mm in dimensions.

The box is made out of 12 mm thick birch and the front plate (the face side) is made out of 3,5 mm thick birch plywood.

Personally I prefer bulbs over LED elements but both will do and you can also buy a cheap plastic night light that works on batteries and take the parts from there. The cable is a common 2x0,75 lamp cable. If you buy a cable that has a switch already attached then make sure that the switch can be opened. Often you cannot and have to buy a switch separately if you want to make the cable hole on the back as small as possible.

Then a small piece of 3 mm thick white acrylic sheet for the eyes and mouth.

And last, some paint or something else to cover the surface with.

Step 2: Cutting the Pieces and Some Holes

I cut out the rectangular pieces (note the difference in length of the side pieces, it is then possible to saw the base under an angle), drilled holes and cut the mouth out with a fret saw.

The end result looks better if some of the material is removed from the inner sides of the two larger side pieces which allows the acrylic piece to cover the face area entirely from the inside. I used my miter saw but this can be done for example with a chisel.

Holes for the screws must be drilled through the back plate and countersink them.

Step 3: Adding Glue and Then Cutting, Sanding, Adding Putty and Sanding Again

Time to glue the lamp box together without the back plate. When that is done then the back plate must be screwed onto its place and the angled cut of the base can be made. I chose it to be 10 degrees.

The sanding of all the sides can begin.

After that the edge of the plywood can be covered with wood putty. This makes it look better when painted. Otherwise the edge of the plywood will be visible. Not a mandatory step.

Then some more sanding to remove the excess wood putty.

Step 4: Painting My DIY Lamp

There is one more hole to drill before painting. This is for the cable to go through. This must be minimally larger than the cable. Otherwise light might get out through it ;)

Painting is a straightforward process. Use a paint which is meant for wood surfaces and two layers might be needed.

I will point out that the paint that I used is a high quality paint meant for wood (furniture) surfaces. It will smooth out while drying. On the picture it shows that there are deep brush grooves in the wet paint layer but this is deliberate. Most of this will disappear when its dry and I also used thick paint because I wanted to add a bit of roughness to the surface, otherwise it would look a bit "plastic".