Bright Lights Part Deuce

So, I am feeling kind of bad about the last bright light post.  I gave up people!  You should only blog when you feel like really getting into it. If not, you will end up like me giving maybe 60%... maybe.  Sawwy.

But it's coo.  I drank some coffee.  Watch out for the explosion of excitement coming your way.

I love lamp.

I seriously do.  I can't won't tell you how much time I have spent searching specialty shops, department stores, antique emporiums, and Pinterest for unique lamps, floor lamps in particular.

Welcome to my vault:



So. Cool.  I think lamps have been an unfrequented form of art... I am very excited to see that this is no longer the case.  Lamps are no longer being treated as an accessory, but more of a main focal point.

Insert wanting to create a sculpture piece for my art exhibit.  It was kind of a fluke that I fell into this idea.  One day I just started drawing houses.  Once I filled my page, I still wanted to make more.  After a bit I ended up with three fairly good sized Bristol papers filled with ladders, rows of homes, castles, and broken down buildings.  I really wanted to figure out a way to display this without taking away the fact that it was a mobius image.

Eur-fricken-reka.  The idea came to me like a thief in the night.  Let's turn it into a lamp, baby!  Once the concept came to mind, I checked out the local Savers to see if they had a lamp stand.  Wouldn't you know, it was meant to be.  There, standing in the corner among the spiderwebs and dust bunnies was a mid-century table lamp stand.

It's glorious!

I really do enjoy a nice, wood-grain pattern, and I think the table of this lamp delivered.  However, it just wasn't going to happen with the look I was going for.  Shane isn't a gold fan, but I love it... he was right though, the gold would take away from the shade, so I had to do a little overhaul with paint and metallic spray paint.

I picked up Rust-Oleum spray paint in Satin Nickel to cover the gold, and used Mysterious by Benjamin Moore for the wood table and base.

After metal was spray painted and primer was being applied.

When I first started out doing any painting project, I was REALLY bad at using primer.  Now, I have gallons in our house just itching to be used.  The difference is huge.  Yeah, it is annoying having to paint something TWICE.  Ugh.  But the end result is a lot better, and chips happen a lot less often.  The colored coat is always a lot smoother as well.  It is easy to want to rush through projects, because you just want it done, but if you care enough about the piece you are working on, then take your time.  For serious.

So, obviously this is a little different looking.  The hubby liked it, so that counts for something, right?  I ended up picking one of those Edison bulbs up.  I just think they are so neat looking.  Even though the bulb itself will be covered up, you know it's there, and secrets make me happy.

Onto the lampshade.  This was by far one of the harder projects I've done, because it involved mostly research and driving around.  I have never assembled a lampshade before.  I assumed-- and you know what they say about assuming-- I could go to a home improvement store, pick up what I needed, and be done with it.  No.  Therefore, I am going to save you a couple of steps if you are interested in making your own lampshade.  #1- It is more difficult buying a lampshade and taking it apart than building one from scratch.  #2- Local home improvement stores and craft stores (I went to all of them) don't carry the necessary supplies to make your lampshade if you are wanting something bigger than 10" (haha). #3- Don't pay hefty prices for any lampshade kit.  #4- Check out Lampshop.com.  It is indeed awesome.  I ended up paying around 25 bucks (with shipping) for two lampshade sets and leather trim.

Or you can skip all of these tips if you just buy a lampshade and draw directly onto it.  But since I drew mine on paper, this was not an option for me.

I was going for a drum shape for this particular lamp.  I purchased a 16" washer top with a 1/2" recess and a 16" bottom wire ring.  My lampshade was exactly 16" in diameter.  Using binder clips, I connected the pieces of paper together until it formed the shade. 

I placed the new shade onto the existing shade to get an idea of the size I was going for.  Next came the risky part, and wouldn't you know, I didn't take pictures to capture the trickery, therefore, I will do my best to explain it.

#1.  Put your shade down on a clean, hard surface.  If you are putting this much work into it, you don't want it to get marked up... or do you?

#2.  I started with the base of my lamp first.  I attached the bottom wire ring with additional binder clips to hold it in place.  The nice thing about not pre-gluing your paper lampshade together is you can adjust the paper to form around the ring, and tighten with binder clips.  

#3.  After the bottom wire ring was in, I used the same process for the washer top with recess ring.  Once your paper shade is being held together by a million binder clips, and you think you got it just right, I used Magna-tac glue to adhere the pages together.  I picked this glue because of it's speedy drying time.

#4.  I picked up some extra-wide double fold bias tape in white.  

#5.  I put a bead of glue in one of the folds of the bias tape and tucked it under the bottom of the wire ring.  I put a second bead of glue on the bottom of the lampshade itself, and put the other fold of the bias tape on top of the glue.  I did this step with the remaining washer top ring.  When you look down into the lampshade, you shouldn't be able to see the wire.  It should be nestled nicely in between the paper shade and the bias tape.

#6.  Let it completely dry and harden before attaching it to your lamp stand. 

Here is a close-up:  You can see the bias tape on the top and bottom of the lampshade.

Easy enough, right?  I have already started making more of these little gems.  They are hard work, but I think it really paid off.  If I've peaked your interest, and you would like one, I would be happy to send you a quote.

Here are a couple more shots for good measure--

Happy Hump Day, folks.