I was just over at Not Just A Housewife, and Stacey has posted a couple more of her creations that are just fantastic. You can go see them here and here! She comes up with the COOLEST ideas!!
I thought I would share with you a couple of lamps that I've made, before I discovered blogging!! I love monograms and personalization. But, since my last name has 11 letters, I usually just stick to the monograms!!
The first lamp I'm sharing was made with an old pickle jar that my daddy gave me. He bought this huge jar of pickles at the DOT Foods 'store' in Macomb, IL. He thought he got such a deal and was so proud of himself!! I don't really know how long it took him to eat them all......... I miss him so much!! Anyway - I wanted to keep the jar! I printed out my "W" from word and cut it out of the paper - to make a stencil. I taped the stencil to the glass, and painted the "W" with black acrylic paint. (This was before my Cricut - otherwise I would have used vinyl!) I stained the lampshade with some wood stain, and that was a chore. Got an idea on how to stain it and, well, it was a learning experience!! I KNOW that water and oil don't mix. I promise I do!! But I guess I didn't REALLY think about what the stain was made of. I got a 5 gallon bucket and made sure my shade would fit in it. Then I almost filled it up with water, and then poured some of my stain in, too. I thought that it would give it more like a tea-stained effect. nu-uh Not even close.... The fabric on the outside of the shade didn't do anything. Didn't take any color at all. The plastic 'liner'? Well, it came out kind of 'polka-dotted'...... and didn't dry....... I had an oily MESS!! hhmmmmm now what?? I let the shade sit in the sun for most of the afternoon, then wiped down the plastic and got rid of the oily mess. Then I took a rag, dipped it in the stain, and then just stained the fabric like you would wood. I think it turned out pretty good, in spite of it being a learning project!!!
The picture on the left is of me and my brothers and my sister. I think I was about 3 months old. I love this picture!! (Yes, I was a surprise!!! Daddy was 37 and Mom was 36 when I was born!!) The other picture is of my kids about 15 years ago. I think it is my favorite of them. Black and white pictures are the best!!
My next lamp sits in my kitchen next to the fridge. I use it as a night light. I hate getting up in the middle of the night and having to turn on bright lights. I got the jar from WalMart. I used a paint pen and wrote 'Believe' on the side. I see a lot of bloggers are using 'Simplify' as their word of the year. I think Believe is mine, for more than a year........ Kind of a life motto..........
I got my little bear at a craft show. Isn't she cute? I haven't changed anything about my shade, and I don't think I will. I like the simplicity of this lamp!!
Okay, I promise, I will try NOT to post any more lamps (for a while, at least)!! I CAN do other things! And we'll get to those in a few days!!
Happy Thursday! Happy March!! Spring is ALMOST here!! I saw a robin Tuesday - actually 3 of them at once!! I heard the doves coo-ing this morning and birds were singing! My daffodils and jonquils are coming up! I love this time of year!!!
Hugs ~~ Suz
I'm joining the fun at these parties!!
I heart lamps, too! I can just zone out in the lighting section at Homegoods just drooling over them :)
ReplyDeleteBy the way, we have a Swap Followings Linky Party going on right now where you get to meet excellent bloggers and increase your followers in the process. It's easy to join - just whip up a post and include the party button in the post then link up and start following other bloggers in the party so they can follow you, too. I'll be honored if you party with us at http://www.homemakeronadime.com/2011/03/swap-followings-linky-pary-030711.html. See you there :)