Enjoying the Simple Things – A DIY Paint Stick Pendant Light

Meet:  Laura from

Enjoying the simple things

Laura has a lot of interests but not a lot of time. She’s mom to 5 kids!  However she squeezes in a little time for DIY and flea markets.  Check out this awesome project!

What you’ll need:

Lamp shade from the thrift store.

Paint stir sticks (purchase or ask at a local hardware store).

Go here for the HOW TO.

Beautiful result:

Rustic charm after little wood stain…

Gorgeous!  See more DIY from Laura at

Enjoying the simple things

Thanks for sharing your creativity, Laura! I love it!

DIY Light Fixture $30

Once upon a time, a DIY girl named Julia from fell in love with this light fixture…

but unfortunately, the price was $2140!  Julia was sad. Things like this happen. Drool.  Shock.  Pout.

Then the DIY bug bites.  Julia and Chris were determined to create the same look for their dining room light fixture. Their decorating dream became a DIY true story when they made their own version for $30! Hurray! ::clap::clap::clap::

  
Julia & Chris & the awesome new DIY light fixture live happily ever after. 
If I didn’t tell you it was DIY, you’d swear they were the same, right?
See the full DIY story and tutorial at 
Chris Loves Julia

I love happy endings. 🙂

This DIY Lamp "Rules"

Blair at A Case of the Mundays has such cute ideas and this one is amongst the cutest!

She created a fun shade for her office using rulers.  COOL!

(love her table too – blue + distressed = dreamy!)
Isn’t this such a cute accent for an office area? I love vintage and this is the perfect accent.

See the Craig’s List wooden file cabinet? After a little sanding and blue/gray stain…

Here’ is a sneak peek at a few more projects you’ll find from Blair…

Thanks SO much, Blair for sharing your creativity! You’re an inspiration!

DIY with Blue Velvet Chair

I’m a big fan of Roeshel and her work over here at The DIY Showoff – and I regularly crash her link parties – so I’m thrilled to be visiting as a guest blogger today and showcasing my latest before/after DIY project. My name is Mike, short for Michael, and I love to recycle, repurpose, and relove.

A few weeks ago I posted a Sneak Peek of several junk pieces treasures that I had picked up over the weekend – with plans swirling around in my head. I’ve since used the hubcaps to start my outside Happy Hubcap Wall Garden, the old planks of wood are waiting patiently to see what new life I have in store for them, and I finally finished a DIY refurbish for the funky little chandelier of my dreams.

We moved into our “1970s and I need a total renovation to bring me into this century” house nearly 3 years ago – and our first attempt at a dining room light was simply to use the small pink glass chandelier that came with the house. It just didn’t fit the space, so that little cutie was moved to my daughter’s room and you’ll get peek at that in a future showoff of her redesigned little space. Then, I picked up a “I need a lot of work” 12-armed brass lamp fixture with “great potential” at the thrift store…which then hung in our dining room for the past 2 years…untouched and without lamp shades. When my hubby started to express his concern that our 12-armed lamp was not environmentally friendly (bless the Swedes for their green living), I officially started the hunt for the ideal lamp to hang over our family meals and fill the central hub of our home with light. That’s when I stumbled across my funky little glass bauble diva online and was hoping-hoping-hoping that it hadn’t been sold yet. Thank you Lady Luck!

So, here she is in all her before and after glory.  I call her Lulu (and I hope that I’m not the only one that names my projects).

Look at how a little paint and TLC helps her shine!

If you would like to see the full deconstruct-reconstruct for Lulu, hop on over to my place at Blue Velvet Chair for more images that document a new life for this little diva.

Hope to see you soon!
Michael
Blue Velvet Chair

Four Corners Design – DIY Silverware Lamp

four corners design
I‘ve seen some clever silverware DIY ideas (sunburst clocks, wall hooks, garden markers) and adorable teacup lamps but this is the first time I’ve seen this cute lamp created by Amy at Four Corners Design.
Thrift Store Lamp
Thrift Store Silverware and Lampshade Skeleton
Amy drilled holes in the ends of the silverware…
and gave the lamp and lampshade skeleton a coat of spray paint then went to work stringing the silverware using wire.
See her full detailed silverware lamp tutorial Part I and Part II.
This is the beautiful, creative result:
Isn’t it cute?  
Amy – it’s darling! I love unique DIY like this!  Thank you so much for sharing your creativity. I think this is about the cutest accent lamp I’ve ever seen.  🙂
See more of Amy’s awesome craftiness, DIY talent and some beautiful decorating inspiration at Four Corners Design.