Glass Vase to Painted Blue Lamp : Guest

Amanda at The Hand Me Down House found a way to make a great Pottery Barn look with a little Mod Podge.

And speaking of Pottery Barn Knock Off Lights ....... we're trying another one today.  Should I say that I really pulled out all the stops on my last one and this one is not nearly as exciting?  It's kinda true -- I was so happy with how the first light turned out that none of my other projects around the house are really measuring up.  Oh well, someday I'll get over my love affair with my light (maybe).

I saw this set of lovely lights in my PB catalog a few weeks ago (does anyone else continue to get these even though they never order anything??  Sadly, I'm just too cheap -- but I'm glad I have the catalog to flip through -- it makes me feel sophisticated).

Aren't these lovely?  And I especially the bluish green tinted one.  

So I kept my eyes open at the thrift store for the perfect piece of glass.  I scoured their million and one vases every time I was in.......and I finally found "the one."

The shape was darn-near perfect for my mini version of the PB light.  And I LOVE when you get to the register and it's on sale even MORE than you thought.  Cost for this little lovely?  $1.49 -- SCORE!

I was a little bummed that it wasn't colored -- but oh well I'll take what I can get.

Oh, wait -- it gets better - I found Pam's blog, Gingerbread & Snowflakes with a WONDERFUL tutorial on how to "tint" glass!  OMG -- could not even tell you how excited I was when I found this -- visit her tutorial -- it's awesome!



So the trick was to use Mod Podge and food coloring.  Well first, let me say that I have NEVER used Mod Podge before -- but I've heard AMAZING things about it and how addicting it is.  So I went out and bought some (did you know Joann's has a 50% off coupon this week?) with my coupon of course -- and I L-O-V-E this stuff!  






So I happened to find some Neon Food Coloring in my cupboard (no idea what I would have used this for -- but it came in handy this time!).  I put a few drops of the neon blue and mixed it with the Mod Podge like Pam did and painted it on.  After I painted it I stippled it with a paper towel -- real technical using paper towels and all, I know.

I know it looks quite electric-blue in the picture -- but as it dried it mellowed out.  









Next step was the lighting portion of it.  If you look at the PB light, there isn't a cord going through the glass -- it simply gets pushed out the top.  So I used the wires and switch from this light:

It's not too hard to get the wires out -- just unscrew the bottom wing-nut:

The bottom of the lamp just comes right off and the wires can be pulled out, but first you need to detach them from the switch part at the top of the light near where the bulb goes.












Unscrew the top by the actual switch and pull that bottom cover off.

**NOTE -- You could just as easily buy a lamp kit at the hardware store instead of reusing an old lamp.  It would probably be easier. :) 

I unscrewed the screws that were holding the wires to the switch of the light.  Once the wires are unscrewed they can slide through the base of the lamp.  Now all you should have are the switch part and a black plug-in cord.  

Then put everything back together without the base or the glass part (I'll be using the base for another project).

What you should end up with is the top part of the lamp where the light bulb goes and the black cord that you plug into an outlet.

This part will sit in the top of the vase.


For the final part of my light I had really wanted a simple round lamp shade -- but I couldn't find one in the size I wanted or in the price range I wanted.  So I decided to makeover a lampshade that I had lying around the house.

I LOVED Amy's tutorial over at The Idea Room for a Rosette Lamp Shade.  She did an adorable lamp for her daughter that had a TON of the cutest little flowers on it.  I didn't do as many as she did but I did take her idea in using one of my hubby's old t-shirts he was going to throw away.

I cut it up into strips and rolled away!

I only did five and put buttons in the middle of each one.

The buttons were ones I found at Joann's for $1.50.

I think they turned out pretty good for my first try.

And are you ready for our lamp reveal!?!

I'm in love with how the glass turned out.  Pam is an absolute genius!  

I'm definitely going to be using the glass-Mod Podge-food coloring on other pieces. 

Total for my lamp:

Vase:  $1.50
Light:  $2.99 (plus I can reuse the base for another project)
Buttons:  $1.50
Mod Podge:  $3.49 (and I'll be reusing this - a lot!)
TOTAL:  $9.48 (compared to $99.00 for the PB one!)  

I just love how the blue paint turned out in the vase!  Looks great, and for a very good price!  

Do you like it?