It's Thursday...

Transformation Thursday

and 

Boardwalk Bragfest

 Don't forget to head over to The Shabby Chic Cottage and check all the other transformations... 

And check out the seriously outstanding Twig wall decoration that Jan over at Bobby Pins Boardwalk made. Outstanding!!!  And don't forget to check out all her "bragging" friends participating in Boardwalk Bragfest ....

I can't believe it's Thursday again.  And I also can't believe I'm doing another lampshade.  Last week I hopped on ebay and found an auction getting ready to close for a wall lamp (I am so into wall lamps lately).  It was a vintage lamp with crystals.  Opening bid was $4.99 and not one person had bid on it.  I jumped on it and left an opening bid.  Two hours later I won it.  It puzzled me that no one else had bid on this charming little lamp until I re-read the description.  I'll tell you the reason later.

I didn't want the shade and told the seller to just send the lamp.  I grabbed a shade I had  but it was too short and covered in the wrong fabric.  Here it is after I ripped off the old fabric. Hmmmmmmmmm, what to do!

Here's a picture of the old fabric right after it was ripped off...

I opened up a drawer and discovered some wired ribbon I purchased about a year ago that was the perfect colors for my living room.  I gathered it slightly and started gluing it on the shade with the first row on the very bottom making the shade appear larger. I also slopped a coat of gold paint on the candle part.

And here it is finished.

 

For a quick and simple cord cover I grabbed some beige wired ribbon, gathered it up, wrapped it around the cord, and put a few stitches down the back.  One thing I highly doubt I will ever do is dismantle a lamp to put on a cord cover.  

 

Looking pretty glamorous at night...

Ok - so why was it so cheap?  Because - ta da - it's plastic.  If I had read the description more carefully I would have known that (and I also wouldn't have bid on it.)  But I got lucky 'cause it doesn't look plastic at all.  I showed it to a girlfriend today. When I finally told her it was plastic she did a cartoon worthy double take and had to lean over and grab one of the "crystals".

Shhhhhh! Let's keep that our little secret...


Now head over to The Shabby Chic Cottage and check out all the other transformations...

Transformation Thursday 

Head over to Shabby Chic Cottage and check out all the great transformations...

Lamp Shade Re-Do

The candlestick lamp in my bedroom is very pretty but the light coming through the white shade was not the best with the new bedroom colors.

So the other night I grabbed a bag full of fabric I had bought to make a different lampshade, my scissors, and my glue gun. In no time at all it was done.  I had some bead trim on the lamp so first I ripped that off.

It quickly became apparent that my original idea of just wrapping the fabric and gluing as I progressed was not going to work. Not to worry. I cut pieces that were slightly larger than each section, glued them, and trimmed off the excess. 

 

I glued trim over the seams and around the top. There were two more packages of the same beads hiding in the bag so I glued a row of beads on the bottom.  The old beads were still attached to the white trim so I glued those right on top of the first row.  Why have one row of beads when you can have two?

 

When the light is on at night it is much softer than the white lamp shade...

Don't forget to head over to Shabby Chic Cottage....

Lamps and Tassels

I love tassels and I'm always happy when I find a new one. Snagged this perfect match for my lamp at Hancock fabric for only $8.00....

Pretty lamps can make a big difference in your decor but sometimes they can be very pricey. I snagged this one at the same Hancock Fabric (they have some fun home decor items), for the sale price of, are you ready? - $15.00. Actually my hubby picked it out. There was no price on it so I hauled it up to check out to inquire and the gal ran the scanner over it and said, "it's coming up $15.00 (original price $49.99), do you want it?" Ok, well twist my arm. heh


Picture of a sad and lonely lamp without it's tassel. It's a standard 28" lamp and has some very rich detailing on the shade. Details make a difference.
One of the things Nester specializes in is handmade tassels. You may want to check out some of hers. They cost a bit more but they are pretty special. I'm saving up for one...

She also makes some good points on when it's better to buy something rather then to make something. I'll be talking about that in the future when I talk more about saving money.

"Sometimes the simplest way to make something...is to drive to IKEA and buy it ready made for $25. But thanks for all of your ingenious ideas on how to make my own."

"Have you ever sat out to make something only to find it much easier just to purchase?"

Good point, Nester
Visit her at Nesting Place