Have you ever wished you had additional lighting somewhere where you didn’t have an outlet or wiring in place? Sure, you could hire an electrician to do the job, but it can be very costly. If you are just looking for ambient light, consider using a rechargeable light bulb or puck lights. Rechargeable light bulbs are great if you are not prone to misplacing chargers like I am, so I prefer battery operated puck lights.
What are puck lights?
Puck lights are small round or rectangular shaped lights with LED lights that are powered by batteries. Often you turn them on by tapping off/on and many come with remote controls, as well. They are lightweight enough to attach almost anywhere with double sided tape, velcro or command strips.
The “magic light trick” is credited, as far as I know, to the blogger at Nesting with Grace. Over the years, so many have used this ingenious solution, including myself. One of my favorite projects I did using this trick is the interactive playhouse makeover.
The best way to attach puck lights to sconces
Puck lights are often attached to flat surfaces, but when you are putting them inside of a light fixture, it can get tricky – I’ve seen photos using velcro, double sided tape, floral wire and more. But I knew there had to be a better way to attach the light inside of a fixture, especially since there was no actual wiring connected, so I went to the plumbing aisle in my local Home Depot with a lamp in hand and started playing around with the various pipe fittings.
Finally, I found the missing piece to make this trick even more magical: a 3/4″ threaded PVC plug.
What this piece does is connect the puck light with the socket just like you would insert a traditional bulb. It was a “eureka!” light bulb moment (pun intended, sorry.)
When it’s time to change the batteries, you simply unscrew the light and replace them, just make sure the puck lights you purchase (like the ones linked here) unscrew from the back so you can super glue the plug directly to the back piece.
What you’ll need for this DIY project:
Sconces
Certain sconces and fixtures work better for this trick than others. You’ll want something with a wide enough opening to hide the puck light, as well as a solid shade instead of a glass one. To reiterate, there is no electric connected – you will mount the fixture where you want it, but just cut the wires down or tuck them into the back of the mounting hardware.
Puck Lights
Puck lights range in size and shape, but I prefer these ones from Ecolight. They are 3″ in diameter so they’re small enough to fit inside most fixtures, but still produce a good amount of light. There are others that change color, brightness level and even come with a remote, but I like to keep it simple.
This is the item that makes the magic trick even more magical – a 3/4″ threaded PVC plug. You can find this at your local hardware store or purchase it online. You’ll need one for each light fixture.
To attach the threaded plug to the puck light, you need a super glue that is compatible with most plastics.
Simply add a dab of super glue to the flat end of the plug then attach it to the puck light. Once dry, you can then screw your light right into the fixture and push to turn on and off. Pretty cool, huh?
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