Furniture Rehab and Repair

How to Make a Lamp From a Toy Tugboat (page 1 of 2)

When your child outgrows his favorite toy, turn it into a lamp, or find an old toy at a garage sale or thrift shop to make a lamp. You can use a toy truck, boat or even a plastic barn.

By Joanne Palmisano, Salvage SecretsMore in Decorating

Courtesy of Susan Teare and Lindsay Raymondjack

We used a toddler's toy to make our lamp — one in which a child would insert a big Ping-Pong ball in the top and watch it roll down to the bottom. You can use most any type of plastic, metal or wood toy to make your own lamp.

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Materials and Tools

- drill and 3/8" drill bit
- hole-saw drill bit
- wire strippers
- screwdriver
- piece of wood for plug
- thread pipe and a piece of copper pipe that will slide over it
- lamp kit
- light bulb and lampshade

Drill and Wire

To accommodate the wiring, drill two holes in the toy, one through the top (in our case, it is a smokestack) and one through the back. Feed the wire through the back and up through the top hole.