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Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Lamp Makeover with an oops!


I bought this lamp at Goodwill a few years ago and have been using it in my office at work. I finally got around to making it over (with a small "oops, I sure didn't see that coming" conclusion).



I decided to makeover the lampshade using road map pieces and Mod Podge. I've been a Mod Podger since the 70's when I first used it to makeover a table for a 4-H project. 



I cut the map pieces into 3" squares and then placed them will-nilly on the shade, coating each piece with Mod Podge. After it dried, I applied another coat of MP and then added some trim.  

The lamp base is glass so I primed it with a plastic spray paint primer ('cause that's what I had on hand) and then sprayed on a coat of Valspar paint, tropical oasis. 

This is the finished lamp with the light off.  




Here is the finished lamp with the light on.  OOPS!  Willy-nilly, as it turned out, was a silly way to apply the paper.  DOH! 
 Live & learn. 



What is true by lamplight is not always true by sunlight. ~ Joseph Joubert
 (aint it the truth?)






14 comments:

sweetlittlelife said...

You are such a creative writer and crafter. I love how the quote at the end tied this all together. Very nice!

Tresa said...

Thank you, sweet daughter! XO

Tammy's in Love said...

I think it looks cool, and willy nilly is just fine with me!

Tammy

Mimos da ClaralĂș! said...

Oh! Tresa Thank you for the beautiful words.
Check back often on my blog.
Your lamp was divine! Tresa you really are an artist, congratulations!
How did the ruffles?
hugs
Luciana

Holly said...

Love the idea of the map shade. I did a similar thing with spray paint. I sprayed a glass shade with an aqua paint which I loved when the light was off, but when I turned it on, you couldn't even see that it was on, I think I used too many coats, it's still pretty though. As long as you leave the light off, it won't be an oops.

Linda @ it all started with paint said...

LOL! I had a similar oops too. But the lampshade was attached to the ceiling fan. No fun getting that thing down and fixing ...

:)

Linda

Eclectically Vintage said...

Love this - just found an old atlas and may need to give this a go!

Plus I love the word willy nilly!

Glad to be following.
Kelly

Perfectly Printed said...

Love the idea!! It did make me smile when looking at the lamp with the light on...funny how when thinking of our ideas we miss one thing! Who cares?? It looks wonderful!

chris

Tresa said...

Thank you for visiting and especially for following. Very nice of you! I now subscribe to your blog via email. Have a great weekend!

Here is the link to the "other" step ladder reuse idea I found:
http://mom4realky.blogspot.com/2012/05/yellow-ladder-table.html

Tresa said...

Thank you Chris. You know, I laughed when I turned on the light. The project had gone so well up to that point. I might have known... but I'm with you...who cares?!

Karah @ thespacebetweenblog said...

Even with the Oops moment, that lamp upgrade is awesome! I am in love with map upgrades. Love the quote about lamp light vs sun light. So, so true!

So fun to see The Great Outdoors button here. Looking forward to seeing your party project. :)

Have a wonderful weekend,
Karah

Erika said...

This is a nice lamp idea, with map pages, and easy with modpodge, thank you for sharing it, i like it very much. Thanks for the tutorial

Alison said...

What a fun project! I think I'm going to have to look for some old maps when I'm at the thrift shop!
Thanks so much for sharing!

Visiting via The Weekly Round-Up over at It's a Blog Party!

Tresa said...

Alison, thank you for stopping by! I'm on my way now to visit your blog. :)