I have too many ideas living in my head. I’m building a nodding flower lamp. Forged iron, stained glass, Art Nouveau inspired. The goal is 8 to 9 feet tall. But have a lot to learn and figure out before I go that big. So this month I’m building a desktop/floor prototype, 12 to 24 inches, to work out the kinks and figure out if the big version is actually possible.

I’ve been sketching versions of this since June of 2023. A forged stem. Wide, textured leaves. A pendant-hung glass flower, something like a snowdrop or hellebore. A changeable bulb inside. I love light. I love magic. Making something that creates a little wonder in a room is exactly the kind of work I want to be doing more of. I’m tired of being afraid to go big and take up space.
The desktop version is the honest path to the full-sized one. I can’t figure out an 8-foot lamp without first figuring out a 2-foot lamp.

The plan: 3 to 6 forged leaves, a stem, sepals, a stained glass flower, and a changeable LED bulb with a power cord and pot or vase base. Iron throughout. I was tempted to use copper, but copper won’t teach me what I need to know about scaling this up.

I have most of the metal and lamp parts ordered. Early tests on the angle iron leaves went well. I want to add more detail to the leaves but haven’t landed on how yet.

Two things are fighting me right now.
One is figuring out the flower mount. I need to test which attachment method actually works at this size before committing.
The other is my own perfectionism. I keep eyeing a split-petal version that might look better. But that’s a separate project. This one needs to finish. I don’t have to get everything right the first time. I can always make another.

By the end of this, I’ll have a working 12 to 24 inch desk lamp and a notebook full of notes on how to build the much larger version.

Have you ever had a project that lived in your head for years before you finally committed to it? I’d love to know how you got yourself to start.