Seriously, you would think that a 2 year lamp makeover would just be fabulous, but it's really just kinda cute. However, I learned some very important lessons with this lamp, that will make any future lamp makeovers much easier.
It didn't start out cute. It was just a sad and kind of nasty lamp with a stained shade that was left in one of our rental properties. Of course, I had to rescue it and was so sure I could make it look better because, hey! it was a free lamp. Okay...not free because the renters skipped out on 2 months rent. Maybe I should have called this the $750 dollar two year lamp makeover, but then no one would be reading this.
First mistake....I thought it was wood. I didn't really look at it that hard but upon close inspection, it's some kind of resin composite made to look like wood. So...spray paint seemed to be in order.
I primed the lamp and all the parts.
I spray painted them silver because I like silver.
Second mistake, I thought it would be easy to pick up a replacement shade. No. Now days, most of the replacement shades for small lamps are the kind that go over the bulb and sit on the lamp base. I needed one for a harp. So.......it sat for about half a year and I kept moving it to the back of the projects list.
One day, as I was getting something off of a shelf in my old craft room, it literally fell on my head. Hmmmm. Maybe it wants attention. OK. I decided to paint the shade with craft paint. This seemed like a brilliant and inexpensive idea. Wrong. Mistake number three. It had some kind of spongy lining on the back and it absorbed the paint in an uneven and swear-inducing kind of way.
It looked horrible when lit. The lining had to go. Easy right? No. It was a pain the butt. Now you may ask what kind of special tools are required to perform this kind of light surgery. Let me just demystify that for you right now...
Two kinds of scissors, (one being the highly technical fingernail scissors), an exacto knife and the all important tupperware orange peeler. Just start one little hole separating that liner from the cover and you'll immediately find a use for the rest of the tools pictured, I promise.
So I got the liner off, and was pleasantly surprised to find that my grey craft paint made the outer fabric kind of look like screen. Cool, right?
Wrong...because when it was lit, it looked like this.....
Every bit of glue from removing the trim, every spot where the paint was uneven was illuminated just for your viewing pleasure. The thin fabric gave it that blinding bare bulb prison lighting effect. ARGHHHHHHHH!
I said some swears and put the whole thing back up on the shelf for another day month year.
Six months ago, I was in the fabric section of a store and came across a pretty piece of fabric and some cute black trim.
The fabric was all shiny and elegant looking and I couldn't decide between the trims, so I bought both.....and then put them away for another several months because I was still saying swear words in my mind when I thought about that lamp, which is no way to begin a project for the third time.
BUT...my dear friend Judy came from Arizona for 12 days this month and she finished this project up for me....
Isn't she awesome??!! She made a pattern for the shade from tissue paper and glued it on with Alene's Turbo Tacky Glue and used the same for the trim.
Finally, after two years, this little lamp was done. I love my friend Judy and I don't know what I would do without her. She helped me with several projects while I was here. I'll be sharing them with you soon, but in the meantime, let's just enjoy this lamp....
I can't decide where to put it. It lives in Jacob's room.
It's easy to move around because it's small.....
See that little picture on the top up there? You may remember that I made it for my bedroom in the other house.
It's kind of a fun clay medallion that I made and framed and then promptly lost in the move only to be found last month when I was frantically searching for something else. Playing with clay is as much fun now as it was when I was a kid! You can see how I made it by clicking the link at the bottom of the picture.
And the little silver sign in the center...
That's Jacob's night time prayer. He says his regular prayers first, and then he likes to read this, just for extra insurance, because you never know what's lurking around in the dark! At least now he can turn on a cute little bedside light if he hears a bump in the night!
Thank you Judy for getting that long overdue project finished for me! You're the best! (But I'm still going to post about how you broke my new sewing machine. LOL!)
Linking up:
