Showing posts with label decorating on a budget. Show all posts
Showing posts with label decorating on a budget. Show all posts

Monday, November 24, 2014

Vintage Owl Lamp Upcycle



A couple of years ago, I found this awesome ceramic owl lamp at a yard sale. I was so stoked about it, that I put it in my living room and took pics before I even fixed the lampshade. The owls were in decent shape, except there were a few minor chips on it. There was also one pretty bad chip on the owl's brow, but I loved it anyway. I thought about painting it to cover up these chips, but since I'm mostly a vintage purist, I thought it would be a bad idea.

Normally, I don't condone painting anything that is genuine vintage. Vintage wood furniture should almost never be painted. Anything collectible shouldn't be painted, if painting an item will diminish the value, don't paint it, etc, etc,.. You get the point. So, I never wanted to paint this baby, until now.

I've got to say that I DO NOT recommend buying one of these lamps and immediately painting it. If you find one and it's in great shape, you probably shouldn't paint it. I only painted this one after long and careful consideration and because there were some significant chips on it. Please don't go around painting up all of these beauties. If you love the look and really want to have one like it, I'm working on a cheap and easy DIY, knock off version. So, check back before you go paint one of these beauties.

See the AFTER version after the jump


Monday, December 16, 2013

Mini Trees for the Mini Me's - DIY

With the leftover branches I had after making our half Christmas tree, I was able to make two mini trees for my mini me and my husband's mini him. They each got to decorate their own trees however they wanted and proudly displayed them in their rooms.

All I did was take two branches and zip tied them together. I used three zip ties on each one; one each for the top, middle and bottom. I happened to have two baskets for the stands. I stood the tree in each one and wrapped old sheets and fabric around the base to secure them in place. Then I fluffed out the little branches.

Here is how they turned out.

Hers