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Showing posts with label lampshades. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lampshades. Show all posts

3.15.2021

flower embellished lampshade

boho,colorful home,DIY,diy decorating,decorating,dollar store crafts,flowers,lampshades,lighting,re-purposing,salvaged,up-cycling,trash to treasure,spring,floral lampshades,floral decor,spring florals,spring decorating,spring home decor,home decor,diy home decor,diy projects,diy crafts,granmillenial decor, boho decor.
spring is trying to arrive. mother nature is just a bit fickle right now...
until she makes up her mind, i find ways to 'force' spring by adding flowers to my decor.
and i don't just mean in vases and pots...

a 'bouquet' of faux flowers was used to embellish this plain lampshade,
adding spring-fresh style with little effort.

continue reading to see how!

4.20.2020

yes, you can paint a lampshade!

art, art class, color, color palettes, decorating, diy decorating, DIY, Instagram, just for fun, lampshades, lighting, makeover, spring, creative spaces, paint palettes, painted home decor, lampshades, office decor, ROYGBIV
this colorful lampshade was a spur-of-the-moment weekend project, 
an idea that came to me as i collapsed into a chair 
after the second day of my weekend studio/office overhaul project.
i was scrolling through Instagram and saw an image that completely delighted me - 
and solved my problem of 'what can i do to this plain ol' lampshade?'
paint it, of course!

so, i put down the phone, grabbed my paints, and gave this old thrifted shade a makeover.
i really love the way it turned out, and it was an easy way to add color and pattern to the room.

continue reading to see what started this whole thing...

12.20.2019

diy wire lampshade frame Christmas tree

junk, junking, junk tree, thrifted, upcycled, repurposed, wire lampshades, makeover, diy, Christmas tree
i created this tree last year, from lampshades and wire lampshade frames & a wire waste basket.
that was after i had stepped away from blogging, so i never shared it here... 
with a 'tree' theme running through all of my December posts, 
i thought it was fitting to include it now!

'continue reading' for the details...

4.12.2018

diy Vintage Lamp Makeover - in 1 Step!

lamps, lighting, vintage lamps, paint, painting, one step painting, diy, diy home decor, decorating
paint is by far my favorite decorating tool...
it's inexpensive (sometimes FREE). it's easy to find. it's not hard to store.
and the possibilities of what it can DO are astounding!

sometimes a paint project requires additional elements and many steps
(like the faux concrete treatment i've shared - and the faux rust treatment that i HAVEN'T shared)
but sometimes, it's one step easy-peasy. that was this project... 
and just WAIT until you see the 'before'!!!

continue reading for the Before & After - AND my secret for a perfect gloss finish...

4.02.2018

Tripping Was NOT in My Plan...

junking, furniture, upcycled, salvaged, diy, home decor, vintage, lampshades, tables
you know those bloggers that create a plan for their blog posts?
like, a three month list of what gets published when - and including what content ?
that must be nice.
i plan my seasonal content ahead, i do - but more often than not 
i find myself putting an unscheduled project together on the fly at the last minute, for one reason or another, 
and it turns out SO GOOD that i just have to share it. today's post is a great example.

oh, yeah, that 'last minute' part? you could add 'by accident' to that, too.
because i nearly had an accident in my studio - and that's how this particular project came about...

continue reading to find out how my klutziness worked in my favor!

2.05.2016

Lampshades to LOVE

 I just can't leave well enough alone...
 I usually buy my home decor items - like lamps - at thrift stores and garage & vintage sales,
and they usually come with lampshades.
Thing is, I never like them! 
I love the lamp base, which is why I buy it,
but then I always have to add something or deconstruct something to do with the shade
to make it something I can live with... or sell.

Like MOST of my projects,
it's not really complicated...
The lamp on the left has a perfectly acceptable shade, right?
I thought so too, but when I sat it in the vignette in my vintage decor booth*,
all of the lovely detail of the three 'candles' beneath that shade became invisible.

I knew I had to do something, so I looked around me to see what I had to work with...
and my eyes stopped on those rusty, crusty wire garden baskets 
hanging from a chandelier over the table.
There was one more of them sitting under the table, and I grabbed it,
flipped it over, and sat it on top of the lampshade (shown on the right).

The wire brought out the metal tones of the three 'candles' under the shade,
and the whole thing looked a lot more 'vintage' - easy-peasy.
This lampshade started out as a simple wire frame from a thrift shop.
I tore strips of red ticking cotton fabric and found some vintage red velvet ribbon,
and simply tied loops of each around the frame.
I think it took me a whopping 15 minutes from start to finish.

I like my projects to be 'Fast, Cheap, & Easy'TM!

MORE inspiration:
view more of my lampshade transformations
a super-quick lampshade treatment
one of the most drastic lamp transformations ever

I've used chandelier crystals, metal shoe trees, wire waste baskets,
aprons, vintage piano player music rolls, belts, stencils, sheet music,
vintage linens, wallpaper, vintage ceramic tea cups, and more
to 'foof' up lampshades over the years...

a few that I gathered up in 2013 to share here on HWF:
 I hope you find inspiration for your own unique lampshades here!
Have fun creating!
...we'll leave the light on for ya'... ;)

shared online:
one project closer | creativity unleashed
shabbyfufu | share it one more time
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11.19.2014

A Rather Shady Project!

 In my last post, I focused on the dried roses in my office...
but right next to them is one of my trademark 'Fast, Cheap & Easy' TM ideas
for updating your decor each season:
Slipcover your lampshades!
That lovely vintage alabaster lamp from a thrift store
has a plain ol' white drum shade that cost me all of three bucks at the IKEA 'as is' department.
It has one lil' dent in the back ;)
But no one sees it, because I am constantly covering the lampshade with all kinds of things - 
like this slipcover, which was made from
A RUFFLED TANK TOP!

I can just hear you now... yes, yes, I can....

"OK, Deb is certifiable now. She's gone over the edge with this one.
Cutting up CLOTHES to decorate with?"
Oh, wait, there was that sweater thing..... ;)


No sewing, no gluing - nothing but a cut with scissors.
 Maybe a straight pin or two to make sure it stays tight on the shade, that's IT.
Five minutes TOPS.

Perfect for the holiday season, when you want to freshen up the decor in your rooms!
The 'How To':

*Slip the shirt over the lampshade BEFORE YOU CUT IT.
*Move it around to to find the best 'fit' and the correct amount of shirt to cut off.
*Remove the shirt from the shade, lay it flat, and cut it in half.
* Slip the cut portion of the shirt (lower half) back onto the shade.
* Tuck the top edge of the shirt section over the top edge of the shade.

* Use a few straight pins to hold it tight if the shirt is a lot bigger AROUND than the shade.
I use women's small size shirts, and they always fit perfectly on basic lampshades.

Just think about doing this using a sparkly glittery tank top :)
Or... just maybe.... a SWEATER!

Want MORE lampshade inspiration? Click HERE!



shared online:

Yesterday On Tuesday | Project Inspire{d}


9.17.2014

Autumn's Golden Light

 
I was searching for a certain image the other day,
and in the process I came across some old photos that just say 'AUTUMN' to me.

The golden glowing light captured in them is my FAVORITE thing about fall...
the way the light turns more amber and deep, especially in late afternoon.
It's my favorite time of day!


Since my last two posts have been about fall decorating 
as inspired by displays at vintage shows,
I thought I'd wrap that up with a post showing images of one of MY old booths at a show.
Enjoy!



 From the glowing woods to glistening golds,
luxe velvet and satin fabric details to simple paper and leather,
I think this embodies that certain color of autumn light that I so love.
There's not a typical tree leaf in sight here, but the decor speaks to the pleasures of fall.

Yes, decor can be inspired by something as simple as the color of light 
that pours through your windows during a certain season or time of day!
Let the color of a summer blue sky or a winter snow be the touchpoint for your decor,

and you'll have created an ambience that speaks to your soul.

PS: It's not about spending money.
All of the items shown in the above photos were made or 'fixed up' 
using reclaimed and repurposed materials that were found or thrifted.
Though the look is 'luxe', the cost was miniscule.
 
Someone else took photos of my booth at that show, too...
and they ended up in Where Women Create magazine a few years later.
Where Women Create's Summer 2012 issue 
featured a story on Judy Watkins and her Remnants of the Past Antique Show,  
with beautiful photos of the show by Jenny Malott.
I am so very grateful to Jenny, Judy, and Jo Packham of WWC 
that they chose several images of my booth displays to include in the story:

Right Page: my Retreat booth & products
(looks familiar, huh?
yes, Jenny took EXACTLY the same shot that I did!)

Right Page, lower left corner: detail of Retreat booth display
Right Page: Baby Grand Piano Bar,
created with my late husband Bob Kennedy for our business, 'Retreat', in 2009
This piece truly was one of his greatest designs...
details of the piano bar:
 * exterior and interior covered with vintage player piano & sheet music
* interior re-purposed as a wine storage unit, liquor bottle & glass storage, 
and keyboard replaced with a pull-out mirrored tray for serving.

shared online:
.

Practically Functional | Creativity Unleashed

 .
There's a lot more to that story....

12.20.2013

Dome for the Holidays....

As I was unpacking bins of Christmas decor a few weeks ago,
I discovered a small box holding some vintage-look bottlebrush trees
that I honestly didn't think I had anymore. I was VERY pleasantly surprised!

I love their creamy ivory color and subtle glitter-i-ness!
[these are relatively new trees, from the Department 56 collection]
 They needed more 'oomph', so I rounded up some containers to use as diminutive 'tree stands':
the one last remaining tin container that my 'Junk Snowmen' were made in,
and five silver vessels from my Mom's collection of family pieces.

I sat them on a silver tray (again, Mom's!) and added several of my own vintage ornaments.
To complete the display, I popped a wire dome made from a wire tomato cage on top of it all.
Some HUGE vintage chandelier crystals dangle from the dome and add sparkle...

You can find my tutorial for making the wire dome from a tomato cage HERE
This vignette in my office also includes several other domes...
One is an antique flower frog, made of curled wire that holds my white candy canes!

Another dome is simply a bare metal wire lampshade frame.
I love the sculptural lines and shape of these - I've had some very fanciful ones in the past,
and they add a finishing touch to any vignette.

Here, one of my NeSts made from daylily foliage holds vintage glass ornaments,
a german glass glittered crown cutout, and a crystal snowflake.
The box serving as a 'stand' used to hold Christmas light bulbs!

It's all just simple items, combined to tell a story ...
One more dome that I am using right now is the curliqued wire 'cagelet'
that I recently mentioned in this post.
It sits over a stack of my dishes and a white ironstone bowl that holds another NeSt
and one of my favorite flocked ornaments - new, not vintage.
[I found four sets of three of these at Ross a few years ago, and HAD to have them]

I love how the golden afternoon sunlight pours into the room and spills over these pieces.
 One Last Detail:
When I added the glass tree topper spire to the vignette,
I sat it in yet another silver vessel - a goblet.
The raised height lefts the spire up to make it more noticeable behind the domes...

You can also display tree spires on candlesticks:
Just insert a taper candle into the candlestick, 

then slide the tree spire over the candle for support.

9.10.2013

Fifty Shades of..... naaahhhh.....

This post isn't about that book. It's about lamp SHADES.
Oh, yeah, those look pretty nice, don't they? They didn't start out that way!

Take a gander at the... ah... swanky?..... lampshades below.
I got them from my junking friend Beth Evans-Ramos 
[of Salvage Studio book fame, now known for Mama Knows Her Cocktails]
 who gave me these shades after no one would buy them at her garage sale. for a buck.
Yeah, they were THAT bad!
We had a pretty good laugh about the cheap plastic-tablecloth-like material they are covered in
and the little bits of tinsel that gather it in several places.

[Seriously, who came up with this design?!]
Worst part? The smell.  These babies were victims of secondhand smoke, for sure.
When I started removing the plastic from the frame, I saw that it actually started out as WHITE. 
That nice warm ocher/gold tone? Smoke stains. iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiick.......

Once I got all that smelly tacky plastic off, the frames emerged as FABulous vintage accents.  
LOVE the shape. Now THAT I can DO something with!
Because I love to see the shape of the wire frames, I usually finish off lampshades like this simply:
These have criss-crossed two lengths of twill fabric tape around them.
I tied a small bow at the top edge of each bend in the frame, to hold the twill tape in place.
And, as shown up above, they looked fabulous in my booth at the Farm Chicks Antique Show...
for all of five minutes. Just long enough to snap that photo.
Because they were the FIRST thing that sold. For $20 each.

Let's Review: 
two fugly plastic lampshades at a garage sale = $1 each FREE
time to strip frames bare = 20 minutes 
[which included putting on a mask so I couldn't smell the smoke odor]
cost of twill tape =  $2.00 at thrift shop
time to embellish bare frames with twill tape = 10 minutes
two stylish lampshades at one of the biggest antique shows in the USA = $20 each

THAT is why we go junking!!!
I made so many lampshades over 5 years that people called me 'the lampshade lady' at shows.
[I guess it's better than 'shady lady'.....]

Here are just a few of the ones that I have created with still-visible bare frames:
 lacy doilies sewn together and seam binding tape   .   glass crystal strands
 rik-rack, seam binding, and a button strip from a linen shirt  .  gold velvet ribbon and manila stencils
 dollhouse china, seam binding and ribbons  .   metal shoe stretchers
 a strip of burlap with a canvas military belt  .  wood clothespins to hold photos
 and of course, there are these lampshades from this popular post!

I recommend using faceted clear or frosted white 'candle flame'-shaped incandescent bulbs
or edison bulbs when you are working with shades like this.
The light from them is softer and won't glare in your eyes on cool fall nights!

shared online:

Worthing Court | Home{work} Wednesday