Make Your Own Pottery Barn Look-a-like Lamp

Why pay high prices for the looks that you like for your home? It is much more fun to recycle and redesign items into the looks you like. I fell in love with a Pottery Barn lamp. Needless to say it was well over $100.00. So I decided to make my own. I kept my eye out for lamps at the local Goodwill. During one trip I found matching wooden bases. Then all I needed were the perfect size of matching shades.  Bases, shades and the following items were all I needed to make my version of a "Pottery Barn" look-alike lamp:

Enough burlap to cover shades
White Flat Spray
Paint Black Flat Spray Paint
Paint Adhesive Spray Paint
Trim
Hot Glue Gun
Scissos

 

Find a base you like.

 

 

Spray a light coat of flat white spray paint.

 

 

Spray with flat black spray paint.

 

 

Sand off edges to allow the white to come through giving a  vintage look.

 

 

Next find a shade that has a good size and shape in proportion to base.

 

 

You will need enough burlap to cover shade.

 

 

Cut burlap to fit shaed.  (Note: You will need to cut on bias.)  Spray adhesive to fabric and cover shade.

 

 

Glue trim to give a clean edge.

 

 

And for less than $30.00 I have two lamps I love.  (And obviously my daughter loves them because somehow they ended up in her room!)

 

 

Leave comments with ideas you might like to share.

 

 

 

 

Cleaning Miscellaneous Tips

Artificial Flowers:

• Pour some salt into a large paper bag with flowers.  Shake vigorously.  The salt won't look soiled at first, but wait until you see its color when you run water on it.

Candles:

• Sponge with a piece of cotton dampened with rubbing alcohol.
• Candles burn more slowly and evenly with minimum wax drippings if you place them in the freezer for an hour before using.

Candle Holders:

• If your candle holders are coated with wax, place in the freezer for an hour or so.  The wax will peel right off.

Combs:

• Add 3 tablespoons baking soda and 3 tablespoons household bleach to a basin of warm water.  Swish around, rinse and drip-dry.

Diamonds:

• Add some mild soap and a few drops of ammonia to a pot of boiling water.  Place your diamond in a wire strainer and dip it into the boiling water for a few seconds.  Let it cool, then rinse.  Finally, soak it in a small bowl of alcohol for 10 minutes before drying on a piece of tissue paper.

Eyeglasses:

• To clean eyeglasses without streaks, use a drop of vinegar on each lense.

Fireplaces:

• There is less need to scrub the fireplace if you throw salt on the logs occasionally.  This will reduce the soot. 
• Vinegar will clean brick around the fireplace.

Garage Floors:

• To remove oil dripping from concrete:  Soak with mineral spirits for 30 minutes and then scrub with a stiff brush as you add more mineral spirits.  Immediately after the scrubbing absorb the grease with oil towels or newspaper.  Allow concrete to dry.  Then, wash with a solution of laundry detergent, 1 cup bleach and 1 gallon of cold water.  Repeat until stains are removed.
• Spread several thicknesses of newspaper over the area where quite a bit of oil has spilled.  Saturate the newspaper with water and press firmly against the floor.  Allow to dry thoroughly.  Remove,and the oil spots will be gone.
• To eliminate oil spots, sprinkle the area with sand or kitty litter.  They both will absorb the oil, and you can sweep it up.

Garden Tools:

• Quickly and easily remove rust by rubbing tools with a soap-filled steel wool pad dipped in kerosene or turpentine.  Rub briskly with a piece of wadded aluminum foil.

Household Odors:

• Put a few drops of wintergreen oil on a cotton ball and place in a glass container.  It will last for months.
• Toss dried orange and lemon rinds into your woodburning-fireplace for a spicy aroma.

Iron: 

• To remove mineral deposits from the inside of a stream iron, fill it with equal part of water and white vinegar.  Let it steam for several minutes, then disconnect and let set for 1 hour.  Empty and rinse out with clear water.
• Remove brown or burned-on spots by rubbing with a heated solution of vinegar and salt.
• Clean the outside of your iron with toothpaste or silver polish.

Jewelry:

• Clean with a soft cloth dabbed in toothpaste.

Vases with Small Openings:

• Dampen the inside of vase and add any toliet bowl cleaner.  Let stand for 10 minutes and stains will disapppear.

Sewing Hints

Oh my! What has happened to this shirt?  I can't get it over my head! The neck is too small!  And even if I could, one sleeve is longer than the other one!  Well, I am just disgusted!  I will never try this again!

Those were my thoughts about 32 years ago after completing my first sewing project.  I guess you could say I have come a long way since then.  I did continue sewing and even went into a profession that allows me to teach others the joy of sewing.  However, some of my students have similar first experiences.  The first thing I tell my students is that they must have patience.  You will make many mistakes, throw half-finished projects away, and get totally frustrated.  But if you hang in there and be patient you can develop skills that can be used in many ways.  I have saved a lot of money making my own bedding, window treatments, and pillows.  And I have enjoyed being able to sew for myself and my daughters.  Not to mention it is a real sense of accomplishment being able to create something from fabric.  Through the years I have learned some shortcuts and sewing hints. Here are just a few:

Patterns:

•Never pay full price for patterns.  If you live close to Hancock Fabrics , they will always put them on sale sometime within the month.
•Place your pattern on fabric and cut garment out at the same time you cut the pattern. This saves you one step.

•Spray a new pattern with fabric protector.  The pattern will last longer, rip less easily and resist wrinkles.

Marking Tools:

•Instead of buying sewing marking pens or pencils use leftover old soap squares instead of throwing them away.


Scissors:

• Invest in handheld scissor sharpeners.
• Fiskars scissors are a great investment.

Sharpening a machine needle:

•Stitch through a piece of sandpaper.

Buttons and buttonholes

•Here's a tip for keeping four-hole buttons on longer.  Sew through only two holes at a time, breaking the thread and knotting it for each pair of holes.  This way, should one set break loose, the other side will still hold the button.
•Use dental floss or elastic thread to sew buttons on children's clothing.  The buttons will take a lot of wear before falling off.

Sharp Corners on Collars or Pillows:

•Use large knitting needles to poke out corners.  Be careful not to poke through stitching.
•Check out pillow making tutorials:  DIY Pillow Form, How to Make a Decorative Pillow Cover

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DIY Pillow Form (A Recycling Project)

To recycle cotton cut old pillow casing away from cotton.

  

 (Or you may purchase cotton.)

Use light weight cotton for cover.

 Iron if needed.

Create a straight edge the size of pillow you desire.

Create a square or rectangle.

With right sides of fabric together pin around all edges.

Mark two “Xs” for starting and ending place.

Starting a “X” stitch a 5/8 allowance.

At corners raise pressure foot and lower needle and pivot.

Stop at “X

Clip all four corners.

Turn pillow casing right side out and stuff.

Stitch up opening.

You have recycled an old pillow into a new pillow form. To cover pillow form see: Decorative Pillow Form Cover Tutorial

Winter Steals and Deals

The weather may not be warm enough to purchase the shorts, bathing suits, and the new spring and summer lines that are in the stores now.  But it is a perfect time to cash in on all of the winter steals and deals.  I have been getting emails from some great sites with some great deals.  I guess that is what you get when you do most of your Christmas shopping online.  Your "inbox" gets saturated with emails and offers.  But hey there are some great buys right now.  This is absolutely the best time to buy winter clothes.  Winter clothing is on sale and there is still plenty of  winter left in which to wear them.  Here are a few of the deals that have found their way to my "inbox".  Check them out maybe you will find a great steal or at least a deal!

Make a Decorative Pillow (Learn to Cover a Pillow Form Tutorial)

Materials: Yard Sale or Thrift Pillows, Decorative Fabric, Sewing Supplies 

 

Remove fabric from form.

 Place pillow form on fabric.

 

 Cut square out around the form. Leaving enough edge for a 5/8 seam allowance.

 

 Should look like this.

Fold fabric that will be used for back of pillow. It will need to be as big as top piece plus a few extra inches.

Cut back out.

Cut back of fabric so that you have two unequal parts. 

Iron a 5/8 inch seam allowance on long side of each back piece.

Stitch

Should look like this.

Lay one back piece over the other. Over lapping about 3 to 4 inches.

Place right side of pillow top piece on the back of overlapped pieces.

Cut off excess on each side.

Should look like this.

Pin around edges.

Stitch a 5/8 seam around pillow cover.

Raise pressure foot up with needle in down postition and pivot at corners

Clip each corner being careful not to clip seam.

This is what the back side will look like.

Turn pillow cover right side out and put pillow form into pillow cover.

And there you have it. So don't throw away those decorative pillows just because you are redecorating. Just transform them to match your new decor. 

Once you learn this simple technique for covering a pillow form you can get creative with various styles.  Print This Tutorial

Other similar projects:  DIY Pillow Forms