new old lamp.

last week i decided to save us some money. i reaaaalllyyyyy wanted this lamp from ikea and it was "only 20 dollaaarrrsssss philllllllllll"... i neeeeeded it. really i just really wanted it to go in the kitchen because my overhead light doesn't work (and i refuse to have maintenance in here again to look at it. no.) and when it did work it was just your basic flourescent light... yah. totally ugg lighting. lamp lighting is so much softer and prettier and just makes me an overall happier person i think : ). well, with all the other projects going on around here (and the fact that i am making phil take me out on a nice date this week : ) : )) i knew i had to try to save us money some other way. so i said goodbye to this lovely little lamp with its lovely little curves and lovely little shade.. : ( 

and i said hello to some old clothes and this little purple lamp.  

yes, i do crafts on my bed. don't you?

i totally love this lamp. i used it in college after i stole it from my sister my sister gave it to me. isn't it the cutest? yah... but totally doesn't go with anything i have.. no purple in my home, sorry. so that's where old clothes come in. i decided to make a new lamp shade, cover the little purple hangy ball thing, and paint the base of the lamp. basically de-purplify it. so i got out my glue gun and scissors and went at the thing.

 you know i totally saved all those for some project some day...

i basically cut a shirt to fit around the existing shade, folded it over the top and bottom and hot glued it around the inside. totally easy. then i just cut some lace trim and the bottom seam off of another old shirt and glued those around the lamp. the tricky part was covering the hangy ball. luckily it came off of the chain, so i covered it then just stuck it back on the little guy who holds the ball on the chain (totallly technical terms). after all that, i just painted the base blue. and i was left with this little beaut:

pretty cute, don't you think? i like the way it turned out. i don't know if i like it better than the ikea lamp, but i certainly like it.. and i really like the fact that it was free. maybe some day i will be able to call that adorable little ikea lamp mine, but for now this one will keep me plenty happy and provide some good light for the kitchen : )