A Crafty Mom Digs Through The Trash

Last summer, as the Bean and I were out for a morning walk I spied two horribly gaudy brass lamps sitting out for the garbage.  

 I looked them up and down as I walked past and about three houses later, my crafty mom took over and I spun around.  I am almost certain there is no neighborhood watch or surely the Bean and I would have landed in the slammer for the next 10 minutes.  I walked back and took the shades off the lamps and plopped them in the back of the stroller, walked about a block, turned around again to get another look at the shades, decided against them and kept walking a few blocks in the other direction and then turned around… AGAIN and finally, I walked off with two huge lamps and shades in the back of the stroller.  I need a tee shirt with a crafty mom disclaimer so I don’t get a reputation as being “that neighbor”.

I stared at the lamps for months trying to come up with a plan.  I loved the shape and thought about painting them turquoise and then coral and then I became obsessed with trying to make them look like mercury glass. 

I have read many DIY tutorials for making glass look like mercury glass BUT these were brass.  So, I began to experiment.  I plopped them on a box in the backyard and dug into the spray paint.  I began by covering them with a metallic silver which was far too glossy and then busted out the bronze and added it in short spurts which gave this dark dappling that I ended up loving.

At some point during the process, the lampshades were broken but I found these gems on clearance at Target. 

I thought they were plain white drum shades (which is what I wanted) with a printed lining but when I plugged them in the lining shows through and they look like a printed linen which is more than I could have asked for.

I am in love with them and well since lamps are one of those things that are ridiculously overpriced (right along with underwear and wrapping paper),  adding these to the bedroom for under $20 is a win win!