DIY Guest Post with Maegan from SimplyBeautiful

Good morning!  I am so excited to introduce you to my first guest poster, my friend Maegan, from the blog, Simply Beautiful. We are now long distance friends that originally met at our church when we both lived in Waco. She, too, is the wife of a seminary student, spends her days caring for her three little ones and never ceases to amaze me with her sewing and crafting skills.

Today, she is sharing this amazing DIY lamp that is not only friendly on the budget, it also helps us all add a certain sophisticated and vintage ambience to our homes.   

Welcome Meagan!

First off, I want to thank Diane for taking my crafting somewhat seriously and letting me guest post on her blog. It's quite an honor! And one that I was so excited about I wanted to present the perfect project. When she first ask me to guest post, I had in mind several ideas for projects. However, since I could only pick one I chose a DIY lamp. You see we have moved six times in our five years of marriage. Out of the six places we've lived, four of them have had NO light in the living area. I know! Can you believe it!? Needless to say, we have had a lot of lamps over the years. I've done my share of painting old ones- which I still enjoy, but today I want to share a special technique for making a one-of-a-kind lamp. You can find electrical lamp kits and Hobby Lobby or a hardware store (they're $10 at HL; which means $6 with a 40% off coupon!). With these lamp kits, the possibilities are really endless. Today I will show you how to make an antique mirrored lamp. 

Supplies:

Lamp kit (found at Hobby Lobby or Home Depot)

any shape glass vase or container

Krylon Looking Glass Mirror-Like Paint (also found at Hobby Lobby)

Dark gray or black spray paint (optional)

spray bottle with water

paper towel roll

scrap piece of acrylic (could also use cardboard or chipboard and piece of foil)

hot glue gun

any lampshade you desire!

Step 1: 

Wrap and tape paper around the outside of your vase.

Step 2:

Spray the inside of your vase with water.

Step 3:

While the water is still wet, spray the inside of the vase with the Mirror spray paint. Reach your hand as close to the bottom of the vase and spray from the bottom up. You may want to wear a glove for this part. 

Step 4: 

Let dry. 

Step 5: 

Repeat steps 2 and 3. This is to ensure a good coat on the mirror paint.

Step 6: 

Let dry again. Mine only took about 15 minutes to dry.

Step 7(optional):

Spray the inside of the vase with your dark colored spray paint. It doesn't matter exactly what color you use. I just used what I had. It's just to give a dark base for the Mirror paint to work off of. I'll show you a picture of the subtle difference.

Step 8:

While you let it dry, assemble your lamp kit. 

Step 9: 

Take your painted vase, put the paper towel roll inside the vase and mark around the rim of the vase. Cut the paper towel roll down to this mark.

Step 10:

Hot glue the bottom of the paper towel roll (I added a little cardboard base to mine) and stick it inside the vase. 

Step 11:

I used craft acrylic (found in the scrapbooking section of Hobby Lobby) to cut a circle the size of my vase top. I then cut a circle in the middle of the circle (making a doughnut) in which the lamp kit base could fit into. I then applied some Mirror paint and black paint in the same manner in which I added it to the vase. I used acrylic because it was simply what I had. I think plexiglass would work better; it would just be harder to cut. You could also use cardboard or chipboard to cut a circle, cover it with the matte side of aluminum foil, and the brush on some black paint with a dry brush. **Pictures shown using the cardboard and foil method.

Step 12: 

Using hot glue, glue your circle to the top of your vase and to the paper towel holder (it adds support).

Step 13: 

Add a lightbulb and a lampshade. Plug in and enjoy!

Thanks Maegan!  I LOVE this project and just added a clear vase to my look-for-while-thrifting list so I can make my own.

Check back later for my giveaway!

-diane