DIY unique lamp tutorial

I have seen some SAWEEEEEET lamps out there right now with spheres on the lamp bases.
I wanted to try and make my own version, but it has taken me a few weeks to come up with a worthy alternative for the lamp base. If I used styrofoam, it wouldn't look smooth. If I used circles of wood, it would cost too much.










So, I let it mull around my brain for awhile, and then it dawned on me! What if I used CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS!?!? I have a ba-dillion of the plastic Christmas ornaments in my garage!

 When I was explaining my idea to Awesomeness (my husband) he was NOT catching my vision. Does this ever happen to you? Some people are blessed with the ability to visualize the finishing product of a project. I'm lucky to be one of those people. Awesomeness, is not one of those people. So, after the projects are done, he usually really likes what I've done. But, to get him on the same page as me, takes some persuasion at times.

I tend to think up some CRAZY ideas at times, so he may think I'm off my rocker for good reason! :)

But, this particular project was sooo much fun once I convinced him to be on my side. Sidenote: I wish I had the ability to know which power tools to use because then I wouldn't have to use my persuasion skills so much. ;)

So, I started by acquiring a tall lamp at the local D.I. (Utah's version of Goodwill). The lamp cost $8.00. I wanted it to be tall because I wanted to take it with me to Good Things Utah and a tall lamp fit in with my plan.

Here are the before pictures:

We took the lamp apart to allow the Christmas ornaments to slide over the lamp pole. We actually had to cut the lamp electric cord to do this. Luckily the hubsters knows how to fix it.

Next, I chose which size of ornaments I wanted to use and cut holes in them with a WHOLE saw...on the Good Things Utah segment, I said "BAND" saw....I really don't know what I'm talking about when it comes to power tools! I need lessons. Maybe Awesomeness will teach me if I ask him nicely with a batch of his favorite cookies.

Anywho...next we stacked the ornaments onto the lamp pole alternating between the big ornaments and the small ornaments. We measured before hand to make sure that we had enough ornaments to fit the pole perfectly.

Originally I thought I would need to hot glue the ornaments into place, but they fit so perfectly and snuggly that gluing them was not needed.

After it got done, I LOVED the result. In fact, the orange was awesome! But, remember, I'm a FREAK about orange. I love it. But, I still primed it (with KILZ) and painted it (with Krylon purple) to achieve my original plan.

All we had to do at this point was reattach the lamp parts and splice the electrical wire back together.

It went perfect in my girls' room. 

 I must admit, I kind of wanted it for MY room! :)

 But, once I promised it to them for their room, it was a done deal. No way were they willing to give it up!

I love the end result. So spunky and CUTE!!! And the best part!?!? The total cost: Less than $15.00!!! I love coming up with thrifty alternatives for what I see out there. It's my favorite!

Think of all the COLORS!! It would even be GREAT white!
Linking to:




Linked up at Melissa at The Inspired Room's Paint Party!