The completed lamp makeover...

I only had about an hour and a half to myself today whilst my daughter was at a party. As luck would have it, the lamp embellishing item I ordered from America arrived this morning so I thought rather than start on the cupboard doors I'd sort out the lamp.

This is a tiny copper stencil that would have originated in Europe. I bought it from this Etsy shop and it came so fast with a little card with a tiny woven laundry label in the same initials. Sweet touch. (I went for an intertwined J and E for my husband and I.) These are sometimes called Dowry Stencils.

Here's what the Alpenhimmel shop says about them...

''These lovely monogrammed copper stencils come from Germany and were used from around the mid 19th century to mid 20th century to mark a young girl’s dowry linens. Brides marked their kitchen towels, table linens, bed linens, and sometimes even their under garments with their initials. After stencilling, the initials were then embroidered with either white or red thread. A classic tradition that can be reinvented by you! Use these vintage stencils to mark your own linens or use them to add a unique finishing touch to your artwork, quilts, or other handcrafts.
Each stencil is 60 - 160 years old.''

(This is NOT a sponsored post. I just like this shop. You can also find these on eBay.)

Here's the before again...

 

If you remember I had a little trouble painting the basket part. You can read about that here.

Well, I cracked it. I just attacked the final coat of paint with a wire brush and it all looked fine.

Phew.

So the shade got covered with linen and looked rather bland. I fancied a bit of a faux grain sack look.

I masked off some stripes with Frog tape.

 

Frog tape is well worth the extra cost if you ask me. If you've ever been desperately frustrated by pound shop masking tape that rips...not all masking tapes are created equal.

(This post is NOT sponsored by Frog tape either. But I like it.)

With a stencil brush and a tester pot of Wilkinsons paint I stippled between the tape with a dryish brush. Grain sacks have a worn look about them so you don't want to just paint between the lines...

I let the stripes dry, it didn't take long, and taped the little monogram stencil over the central stripe.

I stippled over this with a dark red, then joined up all the stencil lines with a tiny brush and a steady hand. Because I hate the look of stencils.

Wehey.The great thing about these copper stencils is that they are so thin, they bend. This made it super easy to fit the curve of the shade.

Yes, the monogram is pretty dinky. If I did this again I might source a larger stencil but most of them seem to be small and I wanted our initials which narrowed the search.

Most importantly I'm happy with the outcome! I thought I might have to give up on this makeover several times so I'm thrilled it turned out okay.

Happy weekend!


p.s. If you want to follow me on Pinterest you can do that here

If you'd like a 20% off code for the Alpenhimmel Etsy shop, head over to my newer post.

The next project...

I've made a decision about the next project to tackle in the house. In my daughters bedroom is a very ugly but incredibly spacious cupboard.

Seeing as it's so ugly I have allowed the sticking of posters all over it.

Totally grim...

Mmm, nice catches. Not.

I think they used bits of skirting board to trim it. Nice touch.

Here I removed some ugly trim so I could put coving up.

This cupboard used to house a massive water tank but we ripped that out when we installed a combination boiler and when my dad came we built some shelves...

Do excuse the mess. The emptyish shelf is normally piled high with bedding but I pulled it all out as I was looking for some hinges.

What? You don't store hinges with your bedding?

Ooh look, some nice pipes stick out above the bottom of the cupboard.

I thought we might get some nice country cottage doors made for this cupboard. Like this...

Not orange though!!!

We didn't actually get a man in to quote for them though. (I'm sure that tailor made doors don't come cheap!) I decided to build them myself. Then, having thought it all through, I decided it would be even easier to clad the original doors with toungue and groove, get the right hinges and get the look of country cottage doors without them having to be structurally strong, entirely flat etc,etc. We can always replace them at a later date when we win the lottery.

If I stuff it up, all I have lost is about £30 on timber, panel pins, glue, and the hinges. Then we go and get some made.

Later today I'm adventuring out to Wickes, which is the furthest I've ever driven, to get some timber so I can start tinkering. Watch this space!

Also, did anyone catch Sarah Beenys ''Double your house for half the money'' this week? I love Sarah Beeny. She's a little scary as she tells people off but you know what? She is always right. So we have that in common.

The lovely Sarah Beeny

Anyhow, one of the families featured was a family of EIGHT living in a bog standard 3 bed semi and the transormation was quite incredible. The lady had the most interesting and fabulous taste, and little budget and sourced everything secondhand. So if you missed it, it's really worth catching it on 4 oD.

Well done to Curtise for (accidentally) spotting my husbands 'Blue Steel' phase in my last post. She wins something extraordinarily cool. When I get round to it.

The other one is ''The Smoulder''

 These were taken a very long time ago and he doesn't look like this now. I'm not allowed to give you an update. No fun...

And just time for a gratuitous Fat Freddy pic. Or two.

 

It's time for the boys annual trip to the vets for injections and weighing so that means it's our annual bollocking about their weight. Oh dear.

Success at last...

No, not the lamp...yet. It is looking better though. I've ordered something from America which hopefully will mean I can embellish it. Watch this space. I have spent a great many hours online looking for direction!

But what I have finished is this marble topped table.

 

I removed the odd wooden phallus from the cross brace. What's all that about?!

I sugar soaped all the wood and filled the hole left by dismembering the cross brace.

I didn't prime as I wanted to see if the paint would all peel off. Well, it did a little.

This was just emulsion tester pots from my beloved Wilkinsons paint range and Antique pine wax by Liberon.

Bad Bobby strikes again...

Sorry if the photos are a little fuzzy. I really need to learn how to use the camera.

It's been a girls only weekend as my husband is in Manchester.
My daughter and I had some great plans including baking...

My effort...

And my daughters...

Hers were far nicer than mine which failed to rise for some reason.
This morning she's unwell so that and the rain put paid to the boot sale.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend! Back soon with that lamp makeover come hell or high water.

Don't forget the competition! Bahaha!

Another lamp makeover...not very good at all.

I absolutely love baskets. They're useful and perfect for that country look. I'd been after a basket weave lamp base for ages. They had one in a shop called OKA a few years ago. They still do a few versions here. Beautiful but well out of my price range.

About a month or so ago, I picked up this basket weave lamp base at the boot sale. I paid £2 for it. Last week I scored this lampshade for 50p. I meant to give both of them a makeover. Obviously. What is the point of buying a thing if I can't change it in some way?

The other week I received the new White Company autumn catalogue through my door. I never buy anything but I do like to window shop! Their interiors are just divine and how I'd like my home to be.

I couldn't help noticing a striking similarity between the shapes of my second hand lamp and theirs. Theirs is £100. Mine was £2.50.

When I pointed out how lucky my husband was to have me as I had saved him £97.50 he wasn't impressed. He said that we already had a lamp. Why did we need another one?

That's not the point. This one is better. It suits the room more than my lace doily creation. And it's much more baskety.

We agreed to disagree.

So, ignoring the husband, I set about transforming the base with the White Company catalogue to guide me with it's loveliness.

Ah, so true...

It all started out so well.

I turned to my trusty basket painting colour, a trial size tin of F&B Skimming Stone. Usually I dilute this and do a wash of paint but seeing as this is an electrical item and I didn't want loads of water getting inside, I used it as it was, pushing it into the nooks and crannies of the basket weave.

It looked really patchy when it dried. I did a second coat. Hated it.

I went at it with a wire brush and it was marginally better but still very anaemic. I waxed over it with antique pine wax. I hated it. I was getting fed up.

I tried a new paint colour. An Oops paint, darker than the Skimming stone. (£1 a litre!) Hated it. Really fed up now...

Dug out some F&B eggshell and had a go with that and walked away. I cannot spend all day painting the same thing over and over. I wished I'd left it dark.

I didn't have much better luck with the shade. Here's how I covered the shade in pictures... because I don't want to talk about it.

 Got that?
OK, so now we have a bland anaemic base and shade. I thought I'd make a ruffle to attach to the shade. It looked so rubbish. You can see the discarded ruffle next to the lamp.

OK, how about livening it all up with a graphic from Graphics Fairy to add a little zing.

I trudged all over town in the rain, trying to find the right sort of photocopy shop. Got my copies. I tried the blender pen transfer method. Nothing happened.

I tried the Citra-Solve method. Here's what that turned out like...

 
Rubbish. With a capital R.
Fortunately I did this on a spare piece of fabric.
Unfortunately I melted a carrier bag all over the back of it.

And the iron.

So there we have it. Thanks for stopping by. Now you know how to create a really uninspiring lamp. It looked so good in the White Company catalogue. Mine just blends in with the surroundings. Perhaps I need to paint the whole room white for it to work? (Sob)

I'm off for a lie down...

And I miss the hedgehog.

Fond farewells...

Our visitors have gone and I've been slowly wading through the mountain of washing and ironing that four extra sleepers in the house create. I'm one of those people who irons sheets so it takes a while. Luckily the weather has been kind and great for drying.

We had a lovely time with them. They went into London every day to do the touristy things. They've done more than I have which is shameful as we're only half an hour away and I spent many years there. The kids (10 and 7) had never seen a hedgehog before as they don't have them in Australia so she was a source of endless fascination.

Did you know that hedgehogs self annoint? No neither did I. When they eat something particularly exciting like a slug or smell a new smell, they puke all over their spines, contorting their bodies as they do so. It's bad enough watching her rip apart and devour a slug without her vomitting it up all over herself. I mean, I have to pick her up! The kids were groaning, ''that's so GROSS!'' quickly followed by, ''giver her another one!''

(Sorry if you're eating right now...)

Twilight (Gah! That name!) is off to the Hedgehog  Hospital this weekend to be placed in a pen outdoors as part of a slow release program. She is so fat, she can now be released for hibernation. We thought she might be too small in the begining. I'm sure they will find her somewhere safe and happy to live with plenty of slugs.
Anyway, here's my latest before and after...

before

Very hard to photograph!

She bloody bit me!

She's not even sorry...

I've also been busy clearing out the loft for a big eBay cull. So the nice tidy house is no more.

I've not been very creative this week. I'm not sure what my next assault on the house will be. So much to choose from. Headboard, kitchen, armoire, blanket box, wardrobe x2, tv stand, the list goes on.

Seeing as I've nothing remotely clever to show you, I will show you some recent chazzing finds... and unusually they're mostly clothes. Driving has given my wardrobe a new lease of life. I'm no longer governed by comfortable shoes and waterproofs! I always said that if I had a car I would waft about all day in cream cashmere. Well, that's not quite a reality but I was asked where I was going by one of the school mums! Which is a first. I hope Curtise and Vix are proud of me.

I got this folky Monsoon dress from the YMCA. It's like new!

I did try to do an outfit shot but I think you need a tripod or a willing partner and mine was away.

This velvet coat I actually got in the summer at a boot sale but I've been living in it...

 

It's a bit big but I don't mind. I got the little corsage from the vintage kitchenalia lady at the boot sale. 

And this scarf! Love at first sight! I'm looking forward to a chilly morning so I can wear it!

 

I can't knit or crochet but I love the finished articles!

I found this little tin at the boot sale...

Not sure if the 'poudre' is make up or something to do with paint but either way, I'm happy.

Oh yes, I did do one creative thing. I balanced a ginormous wooden spoon on top of the painted window in the dining room.

Giant spoon, 50p at a bootsale in York in the summer.

My husband asked why we needed to balance a spoon on a window.
I pretended not to hear him.

I'll try to get my arse in gear again soon.