While shopping at West Elm several years ago, I came across a capiz table lamp (see below), and thought, “I could make that.” But I didn’t want to make it exactly the same. The brown color wasn’t my favorite aspect of it. Besides, where would I get capiz […]
My apologies to everyone who has been waiting since last summer’s blog post for me to share this chandelier tutorial! Life got in the way and delayed my ability to pass on this information. First there was girls camp, and then I got a new job, and […]
I loved everything about an old table lamp that I bought on Craigslist except its lampshade and old brass hardware. I took care of the lampshade, so now I needed to rewire it and paint the brass base. When I found an eBay store that sells […]
You probably remember this lamp. Its first makeover was four years ago. Frankly, the fabric-covered lamp shade was a disappointment, and brass just wasn’t my thing. I still loved the white lamp base itself, so I decided to spray paint the brass base, rewire the lamp with nickel-plated hardware, and […]
Lately I’ve been working with wire and wire mesh. First I made jewelry holders, then a jingle bell ornament, and now this decorative light fixture. I call it the Snowball light because it reminds me of the giant snowballs that terrorize Scrat, the acorn-obsessed saber-toothed squirrel in the movie […]
Apologies for my long absence. A month ago I landed a full-time job (gotta pay the bills) along with a 3-hour round-trip commute. Ugh. It’s left little time for crafting. Not to worry, I’m still going to keep blogging, but it might be on a more infrequent basis. For now, it […]
I am happy to report that most of the work is done on my dining room makeover that American Express generously sponsored. Unfortunately, however, I ran into a few snags. The dishes I ordered using my Membership Rewards points arrived broken, and […]
Ever since I spotted Swedish designer Jonas Bohlin’s tulle lamp in Gudrun Sjödén’s catalog last year (below), I’ve been dying to make my own. I finally did it! I started with Ikea’s Melodi pendant lamp, then added tulle. Never having attempted anything like […]
Hi everyone! Bet you thought I fell into a hole somewhere. Nah, just job hunting now that I’m done with school. Anyone want to hire me? :-)
Anyway, I attended the San Francisco International Gift Fair last Saturday, and I ran across these flower-covered paper lanterns at the zappobz […]
I planned to make a flower-covered paper lantern for months. Not until I found a white poinsettia garland at a Michael’s after-Christmas clearance did it become a reality. Normally, I’m not a fan of artificial flowers, but I think this is a great way to use them. […]
My friend Julie Chai, garden editor at Sunset magazine, gave me this lamp base as a project. (Watch Julie teach you how to make your own compost bin here.) Southwest isn’t my style, plus it had rusty hardware and a tattered, taped cord. As soon […]
Super talented Heika DeHart strikes again. These pendant lamps she made of hemp string are genius. Plus, don’t you love how they look with her wallpaper? Heika writes: “I fell in love with West Elm’s Abaca pendent lamps a few years ago but, as usual, my taste […]
Some of you may remember my first faux capiz shell lampshade that I made for Sunset magazine. It was originally inspired by West Elm’s popular capiz table lamp (below). I was going for the mod look, but multicolored just isn’t my style. […]
Do you have a balcony or porch railing and some jam jars? This is a cheap and easy way to shed some light for trick-or-treaters, or just create a mood for nighttime porch sitting. Best of all, you don’t have to worry about the wind (or little feet) knocking them over. […]
I got this lamp for free from two sweet ladies on Craigslist. I love the base, but the shade had seen better days. I couldn’t find the perfect replacement, so I made my own. And I’ve been obsessed with round finials — which can be pricey. I […]
