This Little Light of Mine.... a DIY Lamp

Latest Bedroom DIY 

I've done it again. I've created another low cost, high glam project for my bedroom. Right after I finished my tufted headboard (see here) I began looking for lamps. And, fate was on my side, a quick trip to Tuesday Morning and I was in luck. I saw this lamp and fell in love.

As I danced over with my cart on the ready, I stopped dead in my tracks at the price $39.99 and I needed 2. I know $86.00 dollars wasn't a lot for 2 lamp, but I guess I'm just cheap. So, fate laughed and shook her finger at me as I walked out the store without them.

I began a search at my local thrift stores and a week later, I found 2 lamps for $5.96 each. The only thing I didn't like was the fact that they were gold.

Off to the garage and a can of silver spray paint.

After I figured out how to take them apart so that I could paint the inside, I got another bright idea. I cut a piece of silver glitter encrusted card stock into 2 circles that I put into the bottom of each lamp. I wanted the light to really sparkle when it was on.

My next stop was to find 2 tall slender drum lamp shades at an affordable price. I remembered seeing some shades at Tuesday Monday . They were still there at an ok price ( they could have been cheaper but what are you going to do), not wanting to tempt fate, I bought 2 of them. After I got them home I discovered  they had this wonderful ribbon lacing detail, how did I miss this!

These lamps really needed a taller harp to really look good, so I grabbed 2 from Home Depot.

A silver filigree ball drawer pull was added to a small wooden block to create a unique finial.

 At this point, my total cost for both lamps was $48.00!  My lamps are about 4" shorter than the inspiration lamps at Tuesday Morning. 4" vs.an additional $38. No way So not worth it.. To get the additional height I just covered 4 old hardback books and sat the lamps on them. I'm loving these lamps. What do you think?

 This post is linked to:
                             

                                
                   

                                           http://encorecreations.blogspot.com/2013/09/this-little-light-of-mine-diy-lamp_2.html

My New Obsession - Mardi Gras Beads

I know you are probably wondering , Mardi Gras beads, yes, Mardi Gras beads . I mean come on if you have a bunch, you've got to ask yourself what can I do with these?  I love these !! Here is the first project that I saw:




I saw this on Pinterest and knew I had to make one. I also had to visit the blogger that posted this, Amanda at The Ivy Cottage Blog. Cool stuff on her blog.  Well, this was the start of my,"I wonder what else I can do with these things". First of all, I didn't even think about Mardi Gras beads, after all I live in GA not a big Mardi Gras spot. But I figured I could use beaded garland left over from Christmas past. Little did I know that during the month of Feb. I would travel to Louisiana  2 times and Mobile ( where Mardi Gras began) . That means I came home with Mardi Gras beads!

I wanted a much smaller lamp for a  night stand and found one at a Goodwill in Mobile.  Sorry, I was in such a hurry to get started that I didn't take a pic of the lamp before I started. Mask the socket and the cord before you do any painting. I did spray paint the lamp with Krylon Chrome Spraypaint. I them started gluing the beads to the lamp using my hot glue gun.

 

I simply cut the bead necklaces creating a long strang of beads . I just kept wraping and glueing the beads on the lamp.

Easy, easy, easy. Just make sure you remove the many hot glue strings that can really be a pain. After I had covered the lamp in beads, I spray painted the whole thing.  Make sure you turn it upside down and give it a good coat of paint. I discovered that the first coat looks good, but after it dries you can see the original bead color.

This little beauty cost me less than $10.00 (including the paint).  So, I did say I love these beads, well
here's a teaser of another project using Mardi Gras beads.