Lamp From a Candlestick

Do you ever find yourself on the hunt for something specific, and then it takes you for.e.ver to find it?  It seems like this happens to me all the time.  As soon as I know what I want and start looking for it, I can’t find it any where!  This is the situation my friend found herself in when she was looking for a new buffet lamp for her kitchen.  Frustrated that she couldn’t find exactly what she was looking for, she finally decided to make exactly what she was looking for. 

She found this candlestick….

…which already had a hole up the center, so it was just begging to be turned into a lamp!

 

After a little paint, a lamp kit, and some wiring help from her hubby….voila! The perfect buffet lamp!

 

After living with it for a little while, she wants to shorten the part between the base and the shade, but that’s an easy fix.  Just have to convince the hubby to take it apart again and make a simple cut to shorten the tube.

She dry brushed a little green paint on the base to coordinate with the painted shutter in the room.

The brown burlap shade came from Target. 

 

Just another way to think outside of the box when you’re on the hunt for something specific!

Sharing with:

Monday

 

Tuesday

 

DIY Lamp From a Planter

Need a lamp base for that shade I featured yesterday??  Browsing through the April issue of Southern Living, a project caught my eye.  Transform ordinary pots or planters into extraordinary table lamps with very little time and money―no electrician required!

Click HERE to learn how to turn this:

into this:

 

What a great way to think outside the box!

Pottery Barn Inspired French Lampshade

While I have been in somewhat of a crafting slump lately, my best friend has been on a crafting frenzy since we returned from our shopping trip to Canton.  Since she doesn’t have a blog, I’ll be sharing some of her finds and projects over the next few days!

First up is a cute little lampshade she made to dress up a corner in her kitchen.  This was a trouble spot for her, since it had been decorated with “leftover” accessories since they moved in their home several months ago.   Here’s how the corner looked before:

A trip to Canton and a scan through the Pottery Barn catalog finally provided the needed inspiration for a change. Here’s the after:

The tin was purchased in Canton and the platter is from TJMaxx.  The lampshade was inspired by this one from Pottery Barn:

You can make one of these lampshades of your very own! Here’s how she did it.

Start with a plain shade in a light color.

Print out any words or phrases that you want to use on the shade.  My friend Googled “French phrases” and found one that she liked and printed it out in a fancy font.  “Que mes baisers soient les mots d'amour que je ne te dis pas”  translates to “kisses are the unspoken words of love.”

Tape the words on the underside of the shade.

Add any other elements that you’d like to personalize your shade, such as a postal marks, numbers, dates or initials.

When the lamp is turned on, the words show through clearly, allowing you to trace them.

Trace over the printed words/phrases with a pencil. Paint your traced words/phrases.  Don’t worry about being perfectly straight or exact, you kind of want an imperfect smudged look.

She also dry brushed on a little brown paint to age the shade a bit.  You could also try doing a tea stain to darken it to achieve the look you want.

And there you have it! A French-themed, Pottery Barn lookalike shade for a fraction of the cost!  I’ll be sharing this post with Metamorphosis Monday, DIY Day, Transformation Thursday, and more fun linky parties seen HERE.

Lampapalooza!

The Nesting Place blog is hosting a Lampapalooza.....and lamps just happen to be one of my favorite decorating accessories, so I thought I would join in the fun!

I'll start by posting my newest and most favorite lamps. I got 2 of these for my birthday last year, and of course I love them because they are my favorite color (purple, in case you can't tell from the dark pic), but I also love the cool shape and drum shade. These are in our master bedroom:

My next favorite is this acrylic ball lamp from Target. I topped it with a brown suede shade I found at Ross. It's in our guest room:

Of course I have to feature my Fleur De Lis stained glass lamp in the living room:

I scored these two babies for $1 each at an estate sale a couple months ago. I am on an endless search for a black drum shade for the white one so I can use it in our office. I was originally going to spray paint the wicker/rattan looking one for the office, but I think it is too large and it is going back into the garage sale pile.

Finally, here's a couple photos of the chandelier makeover I did. My best friend wanted a fancy chandelier for her little girl's room, and she had this old one just hanging out in the garage, so I spray painted it pink and added more colored crystals.

Before:

After:

I have more favorites, but I don't have any more good photos, so I'll stop there. I have run out of spots for lamps in my home, but that doesn't stop me from shopping for them! I can't wait to browse all the other blogs and drool over more fabulous lamps!