Objects of Lust: Seltzer Bottle Pendants

My friend and former boss Anne Krueger (she's the "Design Scout" for HGTV.com) just wrote about these lovely pendant lights from Robert Redford's Sundance Catalog, and I couldn't resist sharing them here.

Made from authentic Prohibition-era silver seltzer bottles, the pendants feature keyhole "windows" that cast light patterns onto nearby surfaces. Wouldn't a trio of them look fab over a kitchen island or table?

Now the bad news: At $395 each, they don't come cheap. But I have a feeling that something similar wouldn't be terribly hard to fashion yourself. Just pick up some vintage seltzers (I see them all the time at flea markets, antique shops, and on eBay for just a few bucks). Then cut the bottles in half (any tips from you crafty types on how to do that?) and rig them up with hardware-store hanging lamp kits (or have the folks at your local lamp-repair shop do it for you).

Voila -- your own affordable, speakeasy-style pendants.