Designing Emily: It's Electrifying!

Confession: I LOVE garage/estate sales! I basically like other people's trash. There's just something exhilarating about finding old things and making them look cool and have a new purpose. I am bad about keeping things because I could use them in a cool crafty project "one day." I have great ideas, it just sometimes takes a while for them to come to fruition.

Well, below is one of those ideas! It still needs just a little TLC, but it's already come a long way in my book.

I bought this lamp at my first ever estate auction. I went with my brother's girlfriend, Krista (aka my estate sale partner in crime), and my good friend, Liz. The lamp actually came a box of similar items we bought for a total of $5. We then bought all of the remaining boxes (about 15 I think) for total $5. Who could pass that up?? Krista and I may have gotten just a little carried away, but we got lots of "diamonds in the rough," and had lots of fun! (Many more posts to come from this trip!)

First, here are the before pictures:

Front View

Back View

Materials

I began working to dismantle the lamp, which proved to be more difficult than I originally thought. It seems that many years and of dirt help to hold pieces together. I eventually got it all taken apart and then started working to put the new lamp kit (I bought at wal-mart for less than $5.) in place of the old wiring. This was my first experience in using a lamp kit, but I figured I'm a smart girl, I can follow directions. Well, I was so excited about this first experience I couldn't wait till it was all put back together to test my abilities. So, before I put the top back on I plugged it in and flipped the switch. Well, turns out the top cover is a protective measure that keeps you from the electric current. Needless to say, I felt the current and immediately dropped the part I was holding. The good news is it worked! So, I finished putting all the pieces back together.

Demolition Pic

After putting the lamp back together I covered the switch and top with tape and spray painted it with primer and then a beautiful blue. Here is the final result. I think it may need one more coat of paint, but I like how it turned out.