Another Lamp Project

I love pretty lamps. I love it even more when they are not expensive!  I have a nice copy cat lamp project to share with you today.

Let me show you my inspiration.

I saw the lamp pictured above at one of my favorite browsing shops. It is by Dana Gibson and the price was $495! I decided that I could use this one as inspiration to make my own.

I ran across these two lamps at a second hand store. The bright yellow one was $6 and the white one was $15. They are identical in shape and size. When I asked the clerk about the price difference she told me that they don’t sell very many bright yellow lamps so it was cheaper and would not budge on the price. I bought them since $21 for two lamps is still a great price.  Even though one was already white, I taped off the electrical parts and gave both of them a coat of white spray paint. I have to remind myself that several very light coats of spray paint are more effective than one heavy coat.

Next I found some clip art pagoda images online and printed them and cut them out. I also cut out my outline shapes to use. I decided on the placement for the pagodas, taped them to the lamps, and traced around them with pencil.

I pulled a couple of colors from the comforter fabric in the room where I was planning to use these lamps and had sample size jars of paint mixed in those colors.

I started the painting by filling in the big areas.

I filled in with various lines and dots. I used a pencil eraser to make the dots. I was not going for perfection here so slightly wavy lines and many other imperfections did not cause stress.

I added white shades and used some Asian finials from some lamps that I no longer use. After living with them for a couple of weeks I decided to add a stripe to the shades. Adding ribbon to the shades was not an option because of the shape of the shades.

The shades were about $20 each and the paint was $6 total so my total cost was $67 for two lamps. If I had purchased the two in the store it would have cost $1049.40 including tax. I just saved myself $982!  I LOVE it when a plan comes together!

I’ll be sharing with Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style, to Grace at Home at Imparting Grace, to Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch, and to Best of the Nest at Simple Details.

2014 Project Review

It’s been a while since I have posted due to an extremely busy month of December. As some of you know, I have a small business Bethlehem Christmas Dinnerware, as well as several Christmas decorating jobs. Throw in decorating the house, hosting a party, baking 48 cakes, attending a few Christmas functions, doing a little shopping, wrapping gifts and a birthday trip and it’s pretty obvious why I haven’t had time to do a blog post! So many times I don’t feel like I have accomplished much until I review my blog posts. This online project diary helps me feel much more productive. I had a very busy year! My biggest project for 2014 was planning and taking a trip to Europe with my daughter. We had such a wonderful time and look forward to going back again some day.

You can click here, here,here, here, here, here, and here to read about our trip. I actually spent a lot of time traveling this past year. I spent about nine weeks in hotels!

I was also able to get to the Round Top Antiques festival. You can read about that trip by clicking here and here. You can read about my birthday trip to New York by clicking here.

While at home, I did manage to complete a few projects.

I used pieces of my grandmother’s upright piano that I had deconstructed to build this blanket chest.

I built a slide out pantry on the sides of my refrigerator using the existing cabinetry. This is a great use of otherwise wasted space. You can read about that project by clicking here.

I made some lamps from various objects. You can read about them by clicking here and here.

I completed several chair projects. I converted this one to a swivel rocker for a friend’s nursery.

I did a total makeover on these.

I rescued this one from Goodwill.

You can see how I staged my niece’s house to sell by clicking here.

I also helped my daughter build corn hole boards for some fall fun.

I also managed to do a little shopping. You can click here, here, here, and here to see some of my finds.

I have some long overdue projects planned for 2015 if I can just pull them off! I hope that each of you had the most wonderful Christmas ever and wish you the very best New Year! Thank you for every visit and especially for taking time to leave a comment!

I’ll be linking to Southern Hospitality and to Between Naps on the Porch. Click the link to see lots of inspiration.

How To Make Lamps from Candlesticks

As soon as I spotted these brass parrot candlesticks at a second hand store I knew that I wanted to make lamps with them.

Let me show you how I did it. I started with these brass candlesticks. In the photo below, I have already polished the one on the right.

I purchased a bottle lamp kit.

I did not use the wire in that kit because it is very heavy and white. Instead, I used a clear wire that I took off a thrifted lamp.

There were three rubber stoppers in the kit but unfortunately none of them was a perfect fit. This one was the closest fit and I found some foam in my supplies to add as filler.

After doing a dry fit, I cut the foam and glued it around the rubber stopper and glued it in the candlestick.

I followed the directions to assemble the lamp.

I added the socket and wired it according to the directions.

I tried them out in this bedroom first.

Let’s take a closer look.

I liked them there but decided to move them to the guest room.

The brightly colored shade helps a lot.

Not bad for a pair of crusty old candlesticks.

I’m linking to Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style and to Grace At Home at Imparting Grace.

More Found Treasure

Before I show you my recently found treasures, I want to show you the lamps that I made from the brass parrot candlesticks that I found. I will do an entire post on them soon but wanted to give you a sneak preview.

Here is what they looked like when I bought the pair for $19 except that both of them were very tarnished and the one on the right has been polished in the photo below.

I found several items that were “ready to use” which is unusual for me! I’ll show you those first.

I love this bowl of orchids that I purchased at an estate sale. It was $45 which my husband thought was expensive. Each of the two orchids would cost $25 to $30 each and I got the great bowl so I thought it was an acceptable price though not terribly thrifty. I am sure that it would cost at least $100 if purchased at a florist. Actually another shopper was going to buy it until she found out that the orchids were real so she put it back down and I bought it. You can see a tablescape that I used it in by clicking here.

I also bought this little covered silver plated server at the same sale. It is missing the glass liner but I think I can find a replacement. This was a $10 find. 

Another purchase from this same estate sale was the 4 large antique Dutch canisters pictured above. I had bought the small one in the center of the top shelf at a market in Belgium then saw that these were matches. Two of the canister have tops and the other two do not. The price for the four was $35. You can read about the market in Belgium by clicking here.

I found this set of red transferware at another estate sale. I know it’s not a bargain if you don’t need it, but I could resist it at $22 for eight plates, cups, and saucers. It is in excellent condition.

 

Of course one purchase leads to another. I LOVE these hand painted Italian urns that I found at an antique mall. They were not particularly thrifty at $49 for the pair but I bought them any way because I thought they would go with the dinnerware very well.

Now to my “to be transformed” purchases!

This faux bamboo cane chair caught my eye at Goodwill. I had to wait for an older gentleman to get up from it to inspect it and purchase it. He seemed to be enjoying it while he was taking a little rest. I will need to make some minor repairs and replace the cane in one side and replace the cushions. I’ll post an update when it is complete.

It is a good quality piece made by Hickory Chair. Price tag: $15!!

I have another fun project planned for these two lamps that I found at a Habitat Restore. One was $6 and the other was $15 but they are identical except for the color. I asked about the price difference at the check out. The price was not negotiable and the manager told me that the beige one was more expensive because it had a really nice shade (hahaha) and that they don’t sell much stuff that is bright yellow! I told her to keep the shade as I would not be using it. Price was still not negotiable but it never hurts to ask. I still got a pair of lamps for $21. This store had a great feature that my husband who hates thrift stores thoroughly enjoyed. They had a large plastic bin full of golf balls for 25 cents each. He is very particular about his golf balls and only uses Titleist golf balls which start at about $30 per dozen. We bought several dozen for $3 per dozen! Next time I want to stop at a thrift store I can say “they might have golf balls!”

My last purchase was a set of 4 dining chairs. They are very sturdy and in very good condition except for needed cosmetic changes. They were $20 each. I am going to do a post one day on all of the $20 treasures that I have found! I can’t wait to tear in to these chairs but I have to finish some other projects first.

I will be painting and reupholstering these!

I hope that you are enjoying these last few weeks of summer. I surely am.

I’m linking to Thrifty Treasures at Southern Hospitality and to Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch.