Faux Mercury Glass Lamp

In a previous post I shared this faux mercury glass lamp.

When I purchased the lamp at a second hand store it looked like this.

I think that it held shells at one time but there were no shells when I bought it. I took it home and took it apart. I started by taking off the harp and light socket.

If you look carefully at the socket, you will see the words “press here”. You press there to remove the cover. Then you unscrew the wires.  I usually mark the screw with the smooth wire with an “S” since one side of lamp wire is smooth and the other side has ridges. It does make a difference! Now that the socket has been removed, I can pull the lamp cord down through the bottom of the lamp to take everything completely apart.

Next, I gave the globe a good cleaning, inside and out. Then I used a spray bottle with water to spray a light coat inside the globe. I followed this by a thin coat of Looking Glass spray paint.

I followed with several light coats of paint, allowing each coat to dry before the next. The finish turned out great .

I really like those dark spots!

You never know what the finish will look like! It is unique every time. After the paint dried, I reassembled everything. I was very pleased with the outcome.

The Red Lantern

When I spotted this red lantern in one of my favorite interior design shops it was love at first sight! I knew that it would make the perfect accent piece for my bedroom at the lake cottage. It was love at first sight until I turned over the price tag. Talk about sticker shock, $1600. That is not a typo. Sixteen hundred dollars! There was no way I would pay $1600 for my short lived new love. Even though the entire light was about 28 inches tall, it was still over priced.  Make that grossly over priced.I finished my browsing and mosied on out. I then decided to visit the other stores nearby. Stationary store. Skip that. Liquor store. Absolutely skip that. Tuesday Morning. Good browsing but no purchases today. Import store somewhat like a no-name Pier One. Great browsing. Then what to my wondering eyes should appear but the almost identical same lantern with no light inside!!! Price tag:$59. Oh yes. Then, 20% off!!!! OH YES. I’ll take it. I was ecstatic!  I know where to get light fixtures. I hustled on down to the Habitat Resale store and picked one up for $5. I had to remove the glass part of my habitat fixture but that simply involved turning a few screws. I took my handy dandy little power drill and drilled a hole in the very tip top of my red lantern for the wiring and hanging hook to go through. I opened the little door and inserted my habitat light and pulled the wire through the hole.

I purchased the little thing at the ceiling (I think it’s called a canopy) from Lowe’s for a couple of bucks.
I just saved myself $1640!! Cha-ching! I made this light for less than the taxes on the original one. When I visited that store one year later, the red lantern was still there. I could not work up the nerve to take a photo. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I LOVE it when a plan comes together!
I’ll be linking to Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch and to the DIY showoff.

Elegance on the Cheap

I love elegance. And I love a sale. Even more than those, I love it when I can do better than a sale.
 
The photo above came from the Cote de Texas blog. Most will agree that it evokes simple elegance.
 
These hurricane lamps were spotted at wshome.com.  They are now on sale. The regular price is $118 each!  The sale price is $59.99 each! According to the girls in blogland, these hurricanes can be made in a flash at a fraction of the retail price.
 
These candle holder bases were purchased at Hobby Lobby for $3 each at 50% off.  It is very similar in shape to the bases on the inspirational hurricanes.

These vases were purchased at the Dollar Tree for  $1 each. It is also very similar in shape to the inspiration hurricanes due to the flared out shape at the top. It was hard to get a good photo due to the reflection of all the light. Clean the vase and turn it upside down.
Add a little E6000 glue to the edge and invert the candle holder on top. The candleholder weighs enough to stay in place without additional support while drying.
Allow the glue to dry thoroughly.
Again, it was hard to get a good shot due to the reflection of all the light.

Pair the hurricanes with an $8 thrift store silver bowl.
Throw in some yard clippings that were picked up off the side of the street.  Yes, I said yard clippings.
I spied these while walking down the street in Charleston and decided to rescue them. Actually, I made a mental note of the location while I was on my walk.When I went back to the car my plan was to drive by, hop out and get the trash and hop back in the car. As luck would have it, just as I pulled over to hop out since there was no street side parking, the homeowner drove up to turn in the driveway and I was in the way. As I relayed the story to my family and said that I wondered what the homeowner thought, my kids said not to worry that the homeowner could tell that anybody picking up yard trash had to be the artsy type.
The finished results are remarkable for $16. That’s  savings of more than $220!!! Cha-ching! I love cheap talk!

I’ll be linking to Metamorphasis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch.