Thursday, April 14, 2011

The Great Idea I No Longer Love

Remember that lamp I told you I bought at the Habitat for Humanity Store??


I was SO excited when I bought it... so excited that I immediately went out to Joann's and bought this fabric so I could make a new shade (the original shade was stained & so not my style)



I did the happiest of happy dances when I found this fabric..the day was going just my way..I had found a cool retro lamp & now the perfect fabric for it..plus, hello I had coupons! SCORE!!

Well, yesterday I finally got down to putting it all together...

First I measured out some white tagboard so I could make a new shade



I had to use two pieces of tag board because I wanted to keep the lamp as long as the original.

Then I cut it to fit and folded it into shape. I held it together with little pieces of masking tape until I got it just right.



Here it is next to the original



I used masking tape to keep the edges together with the interior wire. (oh, yeah, forgot to mention that I took the wire off the original shade) and maybe I should also mention that I had absolutely no idea what I was doing when I started this project..really, no idea!

So next I split the original shade and flattened it out on top of my fabric



Remote weights optional :o)

Once you have your old shade stretched out, trace it lightly with a pencil (on the back of your fabric of course)

After tracing my fabric, I cut it leaving an inch around my traced pattern.



So that's the scary part (for me anyway..I'm always afraid I'm going to screw up the measurements & ruin my fabric..I'm a worry-wart)

So anyway then you spray glue your shade and wrap your fabric around it




After that warm up your glue gun..its hot glue time!!

I folded my edges in and glued them down



And I think that's pretty much it...It looks good..



Really good actually...but I don't love it... Am I crazy?? I like it a lot...but I just know that I jumped the gun with this project...I should have thought about where this lamp was going to go in the house..did I mention that it matches absolutely nothing in my house?...nothing...there is a possible solution however...
Remember I mentioned that I was going to turn our small guest room into a craft room?? Well I guess I could build my craft room around this lamp...but truth be told, it feels forced...

I really do like the lamp...*sigh*

maybe I should have used something like this instead...





or this



I know..it doesn't match the orange base..well, that's because I should have spray painted the base white..duh, Bernadette!!

look how lovely this fabric would have been...


Hello birdie!

or this...



I could build a room around this, right??

So lesson learned..My advice to you ladies, gents, or whoever is reading this, is..let it marinade..just like beef..let it sit there & soak up the possibilities...I for one will never jump the gun again...

I do like the lamp..I just don't love it...

so maybe I'll change it..what do you think?? Let me know in the comments...I read them all!

Now Linking to:

3 comments:

  1. Hey Bern, i would say if you dont love it, change it! :)
    You never get to enjoy a project when its forced. When it is forced it becomes more of a job you have to do and the whole point of this is to have fun/relax when you're doing it. ya know?

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  2. Oh I can't tell you how many times my impatience has put me in that spot. I say if you don't like it, redo it. It's better to put the extra work in and love it in the end. I do think it's super cute!

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  3. I know my opinion won't make you feel better as to how you feel about it, but I love it! The retro vibe and the fabric choice go perfect together.

    Thanks for linking up to "Meet Me On Monday"...

    Take care,
    Lisa

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