Blue Light

I’m notorious for jumping around rooms, doing projects as I go but something’s gotten into me and after the new gallery wall in the hallway was finished, I moved to the boring light fixture.  I’m sure it’s been here since the house was built (1980’s) and it’s not in the budget to completely scrap it for a brand new one.  So, I painted it (and forgot to take a ‘before’ picture before I did…oops).  It’s a simple little light – just a brushed silver base with a globe underneath.  After scheming, I came up with lots of ideas on ways to rework it by replacing the globe with a homemade capiz chandelier or a small lamp shade…but, eventually I settled on just painting the base.  I’ll be on the hunt the next time I’m thrifting (Lord knows when that’ll be but I’ve put in a request with Anthony to have a thrifting day for my birthday next week) for an old brassy I can jazz up to replace it with but until then, at least it’s lookin’ a little better.

All I did was take off the glass globe and then used a foam brush to prime the metal base (Zinnisser water-based primer in white).  I also made sure to prime the screws that hold in the globe since they’re visible.

Then I grabbed the leftover test pot of paint (Valspar’s Secluded Garden) I used to stamp our kitchen rug and painted the base with the same (cleaned and dried) foam brush, using a small paintbrush around where the base meets the ceiling.

I won’t be devastated if the paint doesn’t hold up but I don’t foresee too many problems since the light isn’t touched minus swapping out bulbs.

It’s a little more fun, no?

Either way, our hallway has traveled a small journey since we first moved in.

Next up is painting the cream colored door bell on the left wall.  I’d also love to add a fun geometric runner to cover up the ugly carpet but that’s number 430 on the priority list…however, I’m not sure how that would handle the girls wheeling their toys down the hall.  Anyone have a rug over carpet plus kids that stays put?  Fill me in.

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If you have a moment, please, please, please say a prayer or two for the two year-old daughter of our friends.  In the past month they’ve discovered a very large, cancerous tumor in her brain and she’s undergone multiple surgeries with more to come.  Her name is Madison and she’s so beautiful and so sweet.  I can’t imagine the difficulty it is to see your baby suffer at such a young age and my heart is broken for them.  But, they are very faithful and strong and know that God has a plan and it is always the best plan.

Blessed Francis Seelos, pray for us.

Green With En-…Paint

I’ve been keeping my eyes peeled the past several months for some chunky new/old lamps at our local thrift stores to replace the tall, thin ones we have in our master bedroom. 

So many times I’ve found only one really cool lamp without a matching partner but a few weeks ago I lucked out and found these heavy, vintage glass lamps:

They were nice and dirty and in need of some tlc…just like I like ‘em.

Here’s what they look like today:

After taking apart and refurbing these lamps in the girls’ nursery, I knew a little of the how-to’s of wiring and taking apart/putting together lamps.  It’s really not hard at all and so worth it if you find a sweet pair for cheap and in need of some paint or just new wiring.

Here’s how to do it.  One lamp at a time; slow and steady does it.  Turn the lamp over so you can see the base.  You should see the end of the threaded rod and a nut holding everything in place.
 

Unscrew the nut from the rod, which allows you to pull apart the lamp piece by piece.  Be extra careful if you’re working with a glass lamp with lots of pieces like me.  You’ll want to make sure the lamp is on it’s side and slowly start sliding each part down the rod just enough to loosen the whole thing up and get enough extra wiring at the top to remove the wiring from the light bulb base.
 

See what I mean by loosening everything up?
 

You won’t be able to remove all the pieces individually until you remove the wiring at the top of the lamp, which looks like this after you simply pull off the little top cover (sorry, no technical terms from the non-electrician over here).
Depending on how old or new your lamp is, this top part might look a little different.  Some you simply unscrew and some you might have to remove a screw to separate.  Mine simply pulled off.

Next you’ll want to remove your wiring.  There should be two wires to remove (at least in the lamps I’ve messed with there were two) and those wires will be wrapped around two screws.  Unscrew the screws which then loosens the wire and pull off the wire.

The light bulb casing will now be on it’s own and your wiring might be tied underneath it like this:
Untie it and now you can completely disassemble your lamp, piece by piece.

VERY IMPORTANT:  Make sure that when you’re taking all the pieces off that you either take lots of pictures showing how they go back on to use as a reference later or take them off and line them up as you’re going and snap a shot.  Unless you’re a master lamp maker, it’ll be hard to remember where each little piece goes!  I lined all the pieces up and took a couple of pictures:

Now we get to the fun part.  Painting.  :)

The metal pieces of my lamps were peeling and discolored so at first I decided I’d spray paint them gold.  So I did:

And then I changed my mind and spray painted them silver instead…fickle me. 

And then after I put the lamps back together I regretted the silver and wished I’d have kept them gold…fickle fickle me.

Whatever.  Moving on.

I’ve had plans to inject some more color into our bedroom for some time now and thought the lamps would be a good place to start.  So, the girls and I made a little trip to Michael’s to grab some acrylic paint and came home with this color:
A minty green called Spearmint.  (Side note:  Is it just me or do you go into a craft/home improvement store on a mission to get paint knowing exactly what color you want, only when you get to the paint aisle you stand there dumbfounded because you thought you knew what you wanted but then you see the other shades of the color you thought you wanted and all the other colors and the other shades of every other color and all of a sudden you just don’t know what you want so you stand there looking like you got hit by a truck until you finally just grab a color hoping you won’t regret your decision (or you just leave thinking you’ll sleep on it another four nights)????  Whew, take a breather Sheena.  Well, that’s me every. single. time.  Fabric decisions and paint decisions.  My life be like rough.)

So anyway, I got my paint and a little craft paintbrush and painted the inside of each glass piece (after washing them out nice and good-like).
I gave each piece one coat and I know it looks a little streaky but the streakiness doesn’t show once the lamp is put together because no light illuminates through the glass, only from the top down…comprehendo?

After the paint was dry I referenced the picture I took of all the lamp pieces lined up in a row and put the lamps back together, starting with the bottom-most piece and working my way to the top.  If you’re working with painted glass pieces like me, be extra careful about scratching the paint.  It will scratch off if scratched (one reason I wouldn’t recommend using acrylic paint on glass if you’re painting parts that will be touched once you’re finished).  On the plus side though, if you change your mind about the color 10 months down the road, all you have to do is scrub and repaint.  :)

Here’s an “unofficial” after picture showing the fabric for the pillows…
      
and the Tums I rely so heavily on every night set on a cluttered night stand.  Plans include painting those nightstands (white?), adding some legs to raise them to bed level, and adding mirrors.  :)  I can’t wait.  Other plans include building an upholstered headboard, hanging some much needed art around the place, and convincing Anthony we need some matching faux sheepskin rugs on each side of the bed.  Then there’s always other ideas like hanging some faux roman shades under the curtains, maybe building a bench for the foot of the bed, yadda yadda yadda.  All of this with three kids in tow.  Should be done circa 2020. Am I asking too much if I say “stay tuned”?  :)

Back to the project at hand though, here’s a budget break down:
Lamps:  $12 ($6 each)
Shades:  free (stolen from the guest bedroom whose lamps now sport some clearanced shades I found months ago)
Paint:  37 cents (from Michael’s and purchased with a 50% off coupon…because $.37 saved is $.37 earned people)
Spray Paint:  already had (but purchased at Walmart for around $4 a can)
Total Cost:  $12.37

What do you think?  Isn’t the pattern on the glass the coolest?  That’s what had me at hello…and cha-ching.
   

Funny, not-related story:  As I was eyeing these lamps in the thrift store, an older gentleman eyeing some other second-hand item next to me looked over and with a serious face and twinkle in his eye said “You’d better pay for that basketball before you leave Miss.”  (He was talking about the baby bump in case that one flew you by.)  Usually I’m not one for comments on the belly (“Any day now, huh?”, “Looks like someone had too much to eat!”…), but that was cute, I had to admit.  :)

Anywho, let me know if you have any questions or if I can explain anything better.  I know the thought of taking apart a lamp can be intimidating but trust me, you can do it too! 

Have a good Tuesday all you people!

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P.S.  If you already have your Christmas decor out and lit, you’re ages ahead of me…which I assume since Christmas is umpteen days away, you do.  I was all excited to get ours out but the past few days have left me wondering if, on January 13th (the day Christmas officially ends, fyi) my future self will hate my past self for putting it all up so that I can take it all down while recovering from labor, nursing/caring for/changing/being attached to a newborn AND painfully chasing the twins.  Is it worth it?  Is singing Happy Birthday to Jesus enough for this year?  I’m leaning toward yes…

DIY Light Kit Inspiration & How-To’s

There are lots of ways to update an old ceiling fan, spray paint being one of them.  Go on Pinterest and search “spray-painted ceiling fans” and I’m sure the inspiration will come flooding in.  If you’re not up to painting your fan though, you can always DIY/add to the light kit and make a big change, just like I did last week to the ceiling fan in our master.

Here’s how you could go about doing just that using a drum shade and/or it’s hardware.  First of all, let’s talk the type of light your fan has.  There are some fans that have multiple sources, like this one in our living room:

To add a shade to this kind of fan you’d need to unscrew the finial where you’ll just be left with the lights and a threaded rod. 

 

If you simply slip a shade that’s made to fit onto a lamp harp, like the one below, over the rod and screw the finial back on, you’ll have a drummed fan in no time.  Oh, but don’t forget to take off the glass light covers; you won’t need them anymore.  If they’re as ugly as ours, you’ll be glad to see ‘em gone.

 

If you’re not a huge fan of how the shade and fan look underneath, you could add a fabric diffuser just like John and Sherry @ Young House Love did here.

You might also have a fan that has just one hanging bulb, like this one in the twin’s room:

To add to this type of fan you’ll need a lamp shade with a larger ring in the center of it’s center bars (I’m totally making all these part names up…), like this one:
 

All you have to do is slip your bulb into the ring and screw it into the socket.
 
Easy.

Shades like the one below would also work.  Target and Walmart sell shades with this type of hardware so your color and pattern options without having to reupholster are many.
    

As far as customizing your added shade goes, there are endless options.  I soaked in some inspiration from West Elm and Anthropologie to give you ideas.  With these you’ll get a little glimpse of what goes on in this noggin’ of mine.  Look out, flying thoughts!

1)  Anthropologie's Two-Tiered Lamp Ensemble

This is the shade I was inspired by in making the kit that fits over the fan in our master, except I flipped it upside down.  Read all about how to make yourself one here (but make sure you skip on the vinyl in exchange for stiffer plastic).

2)  West Elm's Small Round Capiz Pendant

Since the shade in our master didn’t turn out exactly how I had hoped, thanks to the flimsy vinyl, I’m thinking of trying this next.  To get this look you’ll just need the frames of a few different sizes of shades (3 maybe 4 shades…oh, and did I mention that thrift stores are the PERFECT places to find lamp shades of all sizes?!).  Attach them so that you have a plane of concentric circles to which you’ll tie strings of capiz shells (which you can DIY using wax paper – see Brenna’s tutorial) in varying lengths (longer in the middle, shorter on the outside).  You can attach the rings by gluing skewers across them or anything else you can think of.  You can also skip the concentric circles and get the same effect using just one shade frame by tying several lines of fishing string from the outside ring to the inside ring (the part that fits over the light bulb), and then tying your shells on the string.  AND, you don’t have to use shells, you can use beads, strings of ribbon, and even washers strung together to get a shade that looks like this one:

3)  West Elm's Melissa Joy Manning Chandelier

Next up, 4)  Anthropologie's Turquoise Rivulets Chandelier
 
I love this one and think a dining room complete with a ceiling fan would be the perfect place to try it.  To get this look, you’d need the frames of two lamp shades, a larger one and a smaller one, strings of beads, and some small chain or string to attach the two frames.  To make it, attach the top frame of your larger shade to the bottom frame of your smaller shade with the chain or string…I’d say anywhere from 9 to 12 inches apart.  Then attach your strings of beads (make sure they’re longer than the distance between your two frames…I’d add six or so inches) to the larger frame and then to the smaller frame, getting that pretty curve at the bottom.

5)  Anthropologie's Feathered Chandelier

Last but definitely not least, you could imitate this look by cutting the above feathered shape out of some cardstock, painting it gold, and gluing it to the top frame of a lamp shade, letting each piece hang.  Think of it like drawing a heart.  You fold your paper in half, draw your heart, and open it.  Except with the above design, you’d fold your cardstock, draw half a feather and maybe make some cut-outs, paint it if you desire, and attach it while it’s still slightly folded to your ring.  You’ll make however many you’d need to go all around your ring.  Or, if you’re really good at paper crafting, you can make the whole design by accordion-folding one piece of cardstock and making some snips.  Make sense?  That one’s a little hard to get from brain to paper…

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One awesome thing about all of these ideas is that you can even create them if you’re renting!  All you have to do is keep the original light cover, slip it back on when you leave, and bang, it’s like you were never there.  Cost-wise, if you scout out thrift stores and get creative with supplies, you can definitely come in under the $20 mark when all is said and done!  :)

I’d love to know if anyone ever tries any of these ideas (snap a still and use hashtag #heybeanlook on Facebook or Instagram) or if you’ve come up with some of your own!  And if I’ve failed to explain a step well enough, shout it out and I’ll try and elaborate!

Have a great weekend!  I’ll be back Monday to show you what I’ve been painting!  :)

Fan Fail

(First and foremost, if you’ve been reading my writings for some time now you probably know that I usually post on Saturdays.  I’m switching that pattern up on y’all though and am going to start posting on Mondays with a few posts sprinkled in between due to family scheduling around here.  So, look for me at week’s beginning from now on!)

I tried something that’s been on my to-do list for awhile this week – updating the ceiling fan in our master with some sort of DIY light kit.  Success wasn’t on my side this week though so I’m considering the whole project a semi-fail.  But, I’m going to blab about it anyway just so you know it’s not all sunshine and roses, perfection and bliss over here when it comes to showcasing completed projects.  :)

So, at the beginning of the week, this is what our fan looked like:
 
Blah.  Thank the heavens it’s brass and not shiny gold but…blah.

Well, a couple of months ago I found this lamp shade on clearance at a local gem, Old Time Pottery, for $6 and thought it had great bones and once I put my crafty pants on, would look great hanging from any one of the boring ceiling fans in our house.  (I actually hung a shade from the ceiling fan in the girls’ room and love it, so I knew it could work.)

The fabric however, had to go.  I could’ve just glued my new fabric right over the old but I was planning on using a white fabric that was a tad bit transparent and didn’t want the old fabric’s pattern showing through.  Also, as the old fabric was a darker color, it would’ve let less light through.  I removed it by running a seam ripper along the frame, bottom and top, in between the fabric and plastic lining. 
 

After that I was left with this:

The old fabric was glued to the plastic liner so all I did to remove that was gently pull.
 

Unfortunately, the plastic liner wasn’t as durable as I thought and when I first starting ripping at a corner, I tore it…boo.  Thankfully, the next step saved me…
 

The last change I made to the original shade was cutting it down a notch.  I simply made a bunch of marks two inches above the bottom (making sure I was cutting off the edge with the tear), drew a line, and cut.

And this is where things all went slightly downhill.  Before I started the reupholstering process, I wanted to make sure I had cut the shade down enough so I had Anthony hold it up to the fan for me.  It was then that I realized that with the  plastic being an off-white color and not white or clear, it looked a little dingy.  Had I planned on using a dark fabric for reupholstery it wouldn’t have mattered, but I wasn’t.  Dang.  To make a long story short, I searched Lowe’s, Home Depot, the internet, and finally some craft stores with zero luck.  The only stiff white or clear plastic I could find that was at least the 42 inches wide I needed it to be was on ebay for $49.99 a sheet.  Umm, “no thanks” said the chick.  “I’m cheep, cheep, cheep.”  So with the brainstorming help of a Hobby Lobby employee, I finally decided to see how a half yard of thick tablecloth vinyl would work.  Cost me $3.  What was there to lose, right?  Hmmm…

Back to work, I cut myself a piece of vinyl the same size as the original liner.

And then I cut out my fabric…both layers.

You see, I never make things easy for myself.  I used some leftover white lining fabric from our dining area valances on top of the clear vinyl but under the sheer portion of a patterned Target shower curtain I found at Dirt Cheap for $2.  I really liked the idea of the pattern on the shower curtain to be subtle, white on white, but ‘in yo face’ when the lights were on…you’ll see.

(Side note:  The next few pictures are bee ay dee.  Sorry.  They were taken after bedtime and under the soft-white (why do they call it soft white?  It’s yellowy/orange/ugly.) lighting of our dining room chandelier.)

So after cutting both layers of fabric a smidge larger than my vinyl (1/2 inch on all sides), I grabbed some spray adhesive (Loctite from Walmart) and first sprayed the vinyl, attached the lining fabric, then sprayed the sheer fabric, and attached it to the lining.  You have to be really careful when you’re laying the fabric down on your adhesive that 1) it’s straight and 2) there aren’t any air bubbles/folds.  If you’re using a pattern like me, you also have to make sure it’s straight…read, pain in the butt but so worth it.  After my fabric was securely attached to the vinyl, I used hot glue to attach both short ends of fabric before gluing the tops and bottoms to the frame.
 

This is where, if you make a shade from scratch for yourself, you’ll need an extra set of hands to hold the frame while you glue.  It’s also where you’d need a whole ‘nother set of hands to take pictures…we didn’t have that luxury so I hope my explanation suffices.

While Anthony held both frames and the fabric-covered vinyl was laid out across our dining room table, I started at one end and glued small sections at a time, top and bottom.  Anthony rolled the frames along as I went.  As for how I situated the fabric and vinyl, the frame was set on the very edge of the vinyl and the fabric was folded right over  it and glued to the vinyl on the inside of the shade.  See?

[Update:  And then she finds this forgotten iPhone shot which she promptly adds.]

Behold, the finished product:
 
But wait, I know what you’re thinking.  “It looks all wavy and stuff!"  I know, I almost cried.  So the vinyl wasn’t a great idea.  Because it’s not as stiff as real plastic, it rippled, therefore ruining my idea, therefore ruining my shade.  I tried to make sure it was nice and flat as we glued it to the frame but I guess it just wasn’t meant to be part of a lampshade. 

Here’s a closer look at the mess:

Howeverrrr, the ripples aren’t noticeable at all when the light is on.
 

And see what I was talking about with the subtle pattern?
It’s hard to capture via camera but it’s looks so cool in person.  :)

At this point I was annoyed/frustrated/felt like I just wasted a ton of precious time.  I didn’t even feel like starting Part II…but just because I had a naptime and a crazy hair the next day, I did, just for kicks.

The large shade was not made to be alone.  No.  It was made for a smaller shade to complete it.  Namely, this one:
It was a Dirt Cheap find that only cost me a few bucks.

It had a white plastic liner and instead of cutting a new vinyl one (my original intention but seeing how the first turned out…), I just used the same process to attach, remove, and reupholster it as I did the larger shade, minus replacing the liner. 

After that was all done, I grabbed a couple of twisty-ties and attached the middle bars of each shade to each other like so:

Except when I went to hang the shade I realized the light bulb was too big to fit in between the two crossbars.  Enter the sign for Wits End with this project.  Sheesh…what next?

String?  No.  Fishing line?  We don’t have any………..  Paper clips?  Yes!
 

TA-DA!!

Last, not wanting the view from below to be all wires and stuff, I cut out a piece of cardstock and stuck it to the bottom of the small shades frame with some sticky tack. 

Once again, I know, it’s much too small and not any easier on the eyes.  I just haven’t gotten the chance to cut a larger circle but I think that should solve that problem.

So, ripples and all, here’s the finished product.
 

I’m definitely not in love with it and it definitely looks “homemade”, something I try to stray far from when DIYing home decor but for now, I’m going to live with it until I get another dose of motivation to switch it up or fix the large shade…speaking of, anyone have any recommendations on where to find some plastic lining?

  

I’ll be back sometime this week with details on what I’m thinking of whipping up next for this sorry fan and lots of other DIY light kit ideas, including where I got the inspiration for this shade.  Stay tuned!  It’s gonna to be good!