Laume's Studio

I finally fringed... er, finished...er, fringed AND finished a project so I can show it to you. Yah me!

I found a half a globe laying in a box at the thrift store and a light bulb went off above my head. I bought a whole bunch of stuff so I can't really tell you how much it cost me. They were having a clearance for all the donations they didn't have room to bring inside. You just paid them whatever you wanted and hauled it away. I brought home a big box of bits and pieces, too many to count, plus a funky, sturdy, old coffee table and handed over a twenty dollar bill. The lady tried to convince me I'd offered her too much money for junk but sheesh, the money went for charitable causes so it's not like I was going to take change back.

We haven't had a coffee table in decades. Just not practical with a house full of kids. I preferred the open floor space for kids to sprawl out to watch t.v., build pillow forts, have sleepovers, build Lego villages. But I'm really enjoying having a coffee table again. A place for magazines! A place to park your feet! I'd orginally planned on painting it white, maybe add a bit of gilding. But I don't really have anything else white in the living room. It turns out all my new (to me) living room furniture is dark wood. Didn't know it would end up that way, but it looks nice. So I might just leave the table the way it is, dark wood and a bit , well, shabby. Which is chic, right? I like it anyway. The only thing that truly needs to be refinished is the top of it. Maybe if the table top ever sees the light of day again (horizontal surfaces in my house get covered up quickly!), I might paint just that. Oh, but, we were talking about my half globe. So, anyway...

I brought the half globe home. Then I bought a lamp making kit at the local hardware store for ... I think it was about $10. Sam happened to come for a visit (so handy having a son who knows how to build stuff) and showed me how to put it together. Okay, so HE put it together for me. But I watched carefully, helped a lot, including running all that wire through the chain. (Now that I can see how easy it is, I think I want to make more things into lamps!) Then Sam helped me put the hooks in the ceiling (even though I could certainly have done that part myself - he was enjoying the role of helpful son) and the lamp has been "hanging around" waiting for me to add the finishing touch.

Fringe. A couple dollars worth from Walmart. Total cost is something under $15. Isn't it pretty!?

I have it hanging over a wingback chair in my new "reading corner". Good thing I found the top half of the globe so that we're not all hanging upside down right now. Snort. Hey, if you live "down under", do globes still.... never mind.


Speaking of lamps, one of our table lamps stopped working a few weeks ago. The knob that turned the lamp off and on fell apart. I like the lamp. Now that I'm feeling all feisty about making lamps, I'll probably try to fix it one day. But in the meantime, look what I found at the thrift store a couple of days ago. This funky old red glass lamp. Love it! Cost me a dollar, and they even threw in a new light bulb. (which isn't an energy efficient one, but we swapped it out when we got it home) The lampshade was from our other lamp and I think it fits the new lamp really well. I haven't even dusted the thing yet but I'll get around to it one of these days. I also want to take a coat of paint to the gold "metal" part. It's really only plastic and it's showing a bit of wear, but a fresh coat of paint (I've got some glossy black) will make it look good as new.

While I was going around taking photos, I thought I'd also show you this little bit of decorative scroll I brought home in that same box of "junk". It's actually a shelf. It had a crack in the top so someone had given it up as no longer useful. I didn't care because it would be easy peasy to glue a new piece of wood on it and there you go, no more broken top. But that was before I noticed it matched my cabinet so I flipped it over, laid it on top.... voila, my country style cabinet gets a touch of Old World style.


It's not like I disliked my cabinet plain, but this little touch really fits my new "funky Boho Europe" look.


Oh, and see the glass and silver (I assume silver plated. Hmmm. I didn't think to look) tea pot? That came home in my box of "junk" too. The carafe lifts in and out of the three legged silver base. I assume you are suppose to put a small tea light underneath it. Hey, is that how they got the name tea lights? I can hardly wait to serve some hot, sweet, Marrakesh Mint tea in it. All I have to do is find some.

Those little bits of color at the bottom of the pic? Balloons still up from William's birthday. You should see the living room, balloons and garlands all over the place! Oh, and all over the yard. And William's bedroom. Hubby got a little carried away. It was sweet.