Tea Cup Lampshade Transformation

I snagged this pink lampshade at a garage sale this weekend for $2. After a quick trip to the Goodwill store to scour for old jewelry and lace, this was the result. Total project cost was under $10.

Lace was re-purposed from a second-hand top. I cut around the lace to use on the lampshade and will use the remaining material for a future project. A hot glue gun was used to secure the lace to the top edge of the lampshade.

Old jewelry found at yard sales is perfect for adding ornate features to DIY projects.

Safety pins were used to temporarily position the jewelry where I wanted it. Once everything was in place, I secured the pieces with a needle and thread.

The lamp base is still a work in progress as I am waiting for the arrival of my diamond drill bit kit ordered from Amazon. Holes will be drilled in the bottom of each China piece. The lamp cord and rod will be threaded through the drilled holes.

Once assembled, the China pieces will be spray painted an antique cream color. I'll post later on the drilling process and show the finished lamp.

FYI: Picked up the china pieces at Goodwill for 30 cents each. It was 1/2 off all blue tags. I can make the teacup/saucer base for around $3. Makes me giddy thinking about it.

The Crying Chair Project

Last fall, a dear friend of mine lost her son to an accidental overdose of a prescription drug. As you can imagine, she is overwhelmed with grief daily. Long after the sympathy cards, phone calls and visits have ceased, the loneliness consumes the heart and mind.

I gifted this crying chair to my friend on her birthday. It's a quiet place where she can kneel and let her tears water the soil of her buried grief. It was a labor of love and the pictures below show the progress.

I started with a $5 chair purchased at Goodwill and stripped off the tattered caning. Assorted mosaic pieces were used to cover the caning holes. Although, time consuming, the end result was quite stunning (at least I think so).

I lightly sanded the chair before applying a base coat of spray paint. My plan was to spray paint all the different colors, but that proved to be a bad idea. There is no way to control the direction of the spray. I resorted to hand brushing and it worked well.


 

As you can see (right), the results from the spray paint idea failed miserably. It was a live and learn experience.

Elmer's All-Purpose glue was used to secure the mosaic pieces to the chair. Natural color grout was then applied according the the direction provided on the container. I purchased premixed craft grout online at Dick Blick's. A coat of Krylon Brand clear coat was sprayed over the tiles to help protect them from the elements.

Mosaic tiles pieces were purchased online from Oriental Trading. They offer many different color assortments and reasonable prices.

The crying chair and poem were attached to the finished chair and secretly left on my friend's deck porch. The time and energy put into this project was worth it.