{Thrift Store Lamp Makeover}

Hey, y'all!  I have a serious problem: I'm addicted to buying thrift store lamps.  I see them in the store for really cheap, and in my head, I see what they would look like with a makeover.  (It's totally like the Princess Diaries of lamps as the makeover plays out in my head.)  I mean, who could blame me for wanting to rescue all those abandoned lamps that just need a little love?!  (My husband, that's who...)  I'm currently making over my living room.  Yeah, it's taking wayyyyy longer than I expected.  I needed a tall lamp to go on the dresser I refurbished.  Yes, I have several thrift store lamps at home, but they weren't really exactly what I wanted.  But I recently found THE ONE at my local ReStore, and I gave it a makeover.

When I found the lamp, it looked like this.

Well, it had a shade on it, but I didn't take a picture with the shade on.

The price tag said $9.50.  I wouldn't have spent $9.50 for the lamp.  I'm cheap frugal.  Luckily on that day, it was marked down to $5.  That was a price I was willing to pay.

I started by taking all the innards out of the lamp.  (Did I really just use that word?)  Then I sanded the lamp a little because there were places that the paint was peeling.  I gave the lamp a good cleaning and then sprayed it with Rust-Oleum's Clean Metal Primer.  It's my favorite primer for metal lamps.

Then I sprayed the lamp with Valspar spray paint in a pretty color called Nautical.

I wanted the lamp to be shiny, so I finished the paint job by spraying the lamp with a clear gloss spray paint.

I rewired the lamp using a prepackaged lamp kit.  The directions on the package are really easy to follow.  The lamp probably worked already, but I have a fear of lamps that have those old looking cords on them.  I always rewire them.  (I'm weird like that.)  The lamp base was then complete, but the shade needed some love.

I found a fabric that I really liked at Hobby Lobby.  I rolled the shade along the back of the fabric and traced the edge of the shade as I rolled it.  I added a little extra to fold over the top and bottom of the lamp and then cut out the fabric.

I used spray glue to adhere the fabric to the shade, making sure to hold the fabric tight while pressing it to prevent any bubbles from forming.  I folded the extra fabric over the edges and attached it to the inside of the shade with hot glue.

I love the finished lamp!

I adore the aqua color of the base, and I love that the shade isn't "matchy matchy" with the base.  It just GOES.  ;)

I'm not sure if I'll keep this little part of the room like it is in the photo, but it makes me excited to finish the makeover!

Related Posts:

Just Paint It White Lamp Makeover

My Craft Room Makeover

{Free Printable 3x4 Patriotic Journal Cards}

Hey, y'all!  I have a fun freebie for you today.  Are you a Project Lifer?  A while back, I made some free printable 3x4 journal cards perfect for Project Life Albums (you can find them HERE), and I had so much fun  making them that I wanted to make some more for you.  The most recent ones I created have a patriotic theme just in time for the Fourth of July.

Aren't they fun?!  (The digital papers I used to create them came from Free Pretty Things for You and The Cottage Market.  Those ladies have the BEST freebies all the time!)  I like all the journal cards, but I think my favorite is the "BOOM" one.  It would look so great paired with pictures of your little ones enjoying fireworks.  You can download the journal cards {HERE}.  Please keep in mind that all my printables are for personal use only. 

I hope you enjoy them!  And don't forget that there are three awesome giveaways currently happening on the blog: the Consumer Crafts Shopping Spree Giveaway, the Amazon Gift Card Giveaway, and the Alison Storry Jewelry Shop Credit Giveaway.  Make sure you enter them before it's too late!  Good luck!

{Alison Storry Jewelry Review, Discount Code & $50 Shop Credit Giveaway}

Hey, y'all! Today's post is a fun one sponsored by Alison Storry Jewelry.  (As with all my sponsored post, all opinions are 100% mine.)  Alison Storry Jewelry recently sent me a necklace to review, and I can't wait to tell you all about it.  But don't worry, I'm not the only person who is getting pretty jewelry.  One of my lucky readers is going to win a $50 shop credit to Alison Storry jewelry!  AND even if you don't win the giveaway, Alison is offering a discount code to ALL my readers.  I told you this was a fun post!  ;)

When Alison Storry Jewelry contacted me about the review and giveaway, I was given the opportunity to choose the piece of jewelry I'd like to review.  I chose the beautiful Bezel Set Crystal Necklace.  When the package from Alison came in the mail, I was so excited.  I love getting mail, but I especially love getting mail with pretty packaging inside. When I opened the envelope, this pretty little box was inside.

The pretty little box paled in comparison to the beautiful necklace inside!

One of the things I love about the necklace is that I was able to choose the length.  I chose a 17" chain length--the length perfect for what I consider "delicate" necklaces.  In my mind, a delicate necklace is one that's not gaudy; it's dainty and cute.  This necklace definitely fits the bill.

It's the perfect length to wear with a collared shirt, a summer dress, or even a tank top.

I love the faceted crystal briolette hanging from the middle, and I love the chain.  Alison could have just attached a plain chain to the necklace, but the fact that she added the 22k gold filled chain with the the tiny little gold beads on it truly shows her eye for design.  (It's no wonder that Alison is so skilled because she's been making jewelry for seventeen years!)  She has so many beautiful pieces in her shop.

The Raw Crystal Quartz Necklace is another one of my favorites.

As well as the Gold Rimmed Turquoise Slice Necklace.

If you're not a necklace kind of gal, you can find earrings like these Druzy Hoop Earrings in Alison's shop.

Or maybe you're more into bracelets like this Gold Cuff Tassel Charm Bracelet. I'm pretty sure that no matter your jewelry taste, you can find something you like in Alison's shop.  Once you find the perfect piece (or pieces) for you, you can use the code PITTER10 to get 10% off of a purchase.  The code is good until the end of August.

And now for the giveaway!!!!  One lucky reader will win a $50 shop credit to Alison Storry Jewelry! The giveaway is open worldwide and ends on July 4, 2014.  To enter, simply use Rafflecoptor below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck!

{Free Printable Friendship Gift Tag & Mason Jar Label}

Hey, y'all!  #MyFavoriteBloggers and I are back with our themed monthly group post AND a giveaway!!!  Our theme for this month is friendship.  I made free printable gift tags and mason jar labels for you featuring a lovely Bible verse about friendship.

Good friends are hard to find, but as the verse says, a TRUE friend "loves at all times."  They love you when you're all dolled up and ready to go "out on the town," and they love you when you haven't showered for a few days and aren't good for anything but sitting at home on the couch in the cluttered living room.  They love you when you have kind, encouraging words to give to them, and they love you when you can't say anything at all because you're crying too hard.  If you have at least one friend like this, count yourself lucky.  Tell that friend how you feel about her with a small gift with one of these free printable gift tags or labels attached.

You can whip up a batch of my DIY sugar scrub, stick one of these jar labels on the top, and leave it on your friends door step.

Or you can buy your friend an awesome tinted mason jar tumbler and attach one of these printable gift tags to it.

Whichever option you decide to do or even if you come up with your own idea, your friend is sure to love hearing how special she is to you. You can download the gift tags HERE and the jar labels HERE. And now for #MyFavoriteBloggers!

From top row, left to right: Melanie from It Happens in a Blink ~ Emily from The Benson Street ~ Amy from One Artsy Mama ~ Adrianne from Happy Hour Projects ~ Me ~ Kara from Happy Go Lucky ~ Kadie from 7 Alive All Livin' in a Double Wide Check out our awesome friendship themed projects!

 

From top row, left to right:

Tea-riffic Friend Gift ~ Amish Friendship Bread ~ Macrame Friendship Bracelets ~ Simple Finger Loom Rubber-Band Friendship Bracelets ~ Friendship Gift Pillow Boxes ~ Friendship Gift Tags & Mason Jar Printables ~ Friendship Bracelet

And to spice things up a bit this month, we're also hosting a giveaway for a $35 Amazon gift card!  The giveaway is open to residents of the US and Canada and ends at 12 AM June 26, 2014.    

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck, and make sure you stop back by here tomorrow to enter another giveaway for a chance to win a $50 shop credit to an awesome Etsy shop!

{Inexpensive DIY Reversible Photo Backdrop}

Hey, y'all!  I have a great project to share with you today, especially if you're into photography.  It's my Inexpensive DIY Photo Backdrop, AND it's reversible.

Since I started this blog a few years ago, blogging has changed.  When I first started, good projects got good traffic.  Photos didn't have to be "Pinterest Perfect."  People were just looking for great ideas.  Since Pinterest has taken over the world, professional-looking blog photos have become crucial to getting page views.  Professional-looking photos get pinned more and featured more through link parties, etc.  To stay "relevant," I am constantly looking for ways to improve my photography.  I have a dSLR camera, and I only shoot in manual mode now, which I highly recommend you quickly learn if you want to greatly improve your photography.  I also edit my photos using iPhoto and PicMonkey.  (You can learn how to improve your photos using PicMonkey with this post.)  Another trick that has helped me with my blog photos is "staging" my photos--freeing the pics of any unnecessary distractions and really trying to showcase the piece I'm photographing.  One way to do this is to use scrapbook paper and poster board as a backdrop for my pics.  Sometimes scrapbook paper is simply not big enough to get a great picture though.  Recently when I was wandering the aisles of Lowe's looking for project inspiration, I stumbled upon a 2 ft. x 2 ft. piece of thin Birch plywood, and I KNEW that I had found a perfect backdrop for my photos.  All the plywood needed was a pretty paint finish, and I would have so much more room for a wider project shot than I do with a piece of 12x12 scrapbook paper.  I bought the piece for $7.44 and took it home to work my magic.

I lightly sanded the plywood with 220 grit sandpaper.

Then it was time to paint!  I love taking different paints and just playing around with them to create a unique finish.

I painted the board with one coat of a light turquoise color.  Then I lightly brushed a darker shade of turquoise and white over the board.  As long as you paint quickly, the paint will stay wet enough to blend into the pretty finish in the above photo.

I love a distressed paint finish, so after the paint dried, I used 220 grit sandpaper again to sand off some of the paint in different places.  I realize that the paint colors look different in the photos above.  I took these pictures with the phone on my camera because I was too impatient to use my "real" camera.  You'll hardly ever see awesome photos for each step of a project here at Pitter and Glink.  It's enough work simply trying to get good finished project photos.  ;)

Anyway, back to the backdrop.  To further the distressed look, I used a foam brush to brush a coat of dark walnut stain all over the board.  Then I used a rag to wipe the stain off.  I was left with the awesome finish above.

To protect all my hard work, I sealed the paint with a coat of paste finishing wax.  I simply followed the directions on the can of wax.

Using the backdrop is really easy.  I just lay it in the shade if it's a really sunny day, or if I'm inside I put it near a window and use my reflector or a piece of white poster board to reflect the light so I don't have weird shadows.  I put my object to be photographed on the board and snap away.

See how great it looks as the backdrop for this hymnal and brass deer I bought from the thrift store?

I also used it indoors for the backdrop of this photo of my succulents. 

And I used it for the backdrop of the the above photo too.  (This is a photo of the Nester's book The Nesting Place.  If you haven't bought it yet, you should.  It will totally change how you feel about your home.)  Yep, since the board has two sides, I made it reversible.  I simply brushed one coat of Rust-oleum's Ultimate Wood Stain in Driftwood on the board and wiped it off.  I sealed this side of the board with wax as well.  So for about $8 I now have an awesome REVERSIBLE photo backdrop.  I am so tempted to buy some more of the plywood squares and do more paint finishes on them!  Now that I've shared some of my photography tips with you, PLEASE share your best photography tip with me.  I've come a long way, but I still have a long way to go.  :) Related Posts:

How to Use PicMonkey to Improve Your Photos