Monday

See this Ikea Knappa ceiling light?  

 

They haven't sold these for years at our Ikea... so I guess they are sought after.

I found 2 that were getting 'disposed' of on the side of the road last year, if my memory serves me well.

They didn't look like they were in good shape, but I took them home and cleaned them up and they both looked a treat!  I sold the one in the photo last week for a nice price and I'll sell the second one soon.  :)

Onto something completely different.  

I really amaze myself sometimes.  Even after amazing myself, then accepting that I'm amazing, I still amaze myself.  lol.  I should really let my vanity go and just realize that I'm just plain AMAZING.

Some of you know that I collect thimbles.  

So a few months back I started looking on Ebay for thimble cabinets, holders, units etc.  Have you seen the prices on those things??  Well I have and it's enough to make your eyes pop out of their sockets.  So then I thought gee wiz, I could try making one myself.  I didn't need anything fancy, just something cute to sit them on.

And here it is!!!!

Ok I know it's not perfect, but I'm more than happy with my handy work.  My mother bought up a good point when she saw it though.... she said I should have popped a little shelf right down the bottom.  She could be right, and I might just do that in the near future.  The thimbles you see are only about half of what I have, so I may make something else but a little bit different.  :)

It's a lighting frenzy!

Free lighting apparatus.  How many lights can one have?  I've gone a little overboard with my collection yet there is something so captivating about them,  I really do need to pick them up.  

Ok, I don't use all the ones I find and a lot of them are for spare parts, which means I strip them down and toss away what I don't need.  Thankfully less apparatus means more space in my cupboards!

On with the lighting show...

These are lovelier than they look in the photo.  Most of the parts are there, but that pesky brown paint on the edge a little on the hideous side - and I can tell it was hand painted (absolutely no artistic flare was found!).  I will attempt to erase that ugliness with paint stripper and hope that it doesn't eat away at the glass.

I picked this up for the lovely white and gold ceramic part.

Not the prettiest shade, and I might just spray paint it and sand down the base... then Bob's my uncle.

This didn't have one scratch on it.

My favourite... and it reminds me of the roaring 1920 with its bold Art Deco style.  She's a big and heavy lady indeed.

If you look closely, you will see dust clinging to it... but believe me this photo was taken AFTER I cleaned it.  Black is the worst colour for cleaning, especially black ceramic!

And lastly, the ugliest of them all....

Random free stuff

Here are some good examples of how one persons junk is another persons treasure.  They look unexciting now, but I have plans to pretty them up in the not so distant future;

 I see a little decorating on the horizon and I know exactly what to do with these and it gets me in a frenzy when I think about how cute they (might) be...

And this plastic flower pot has potential.  You don't need to be an expert to know what I plan to do with this...

 

These poor little tables have seen better days, and it looks like it used to be a nest of 3, minus the baby...

I love this cane/wicker coffee table, but to have a new glass top custom made would cost a small fortune I'm sure, so I'm thinking maybe use a plank of thick wood, but I'm not really sure yet...

And lastly, two Ikea light shades.  How kitsch are these?

Here are the pieces washed and dried...

The guts look interestingly simple (lol)... 

I'm still wondering and pondering about the fate of these light shades, so who knows what will become of them.  I guess you will have to stay tuned.  ;)

Oh dear, more free lighting!

At the rate I'm going, I could open up a lighting store!

This one isn't pink... it's white milk glass.  There is a pink light globe making it look all pretty and feminine.  It was in the kitchen, until the one below came along.   Now it shall be placed in the laundry room.

This one is a heavy boy and looks magnificent in the kitchen.  :)

And then there was free light

If you're like me (and Rebecca, my niece) and you find free lighting and you have a husband/boyfriend/partner/friend that can do some illegal electrical work, then good for you!!  By the way, I don't condone doing your own electrical work if you don't have an electricians license because it is VERY dangerous... but my darling husband is a jack of all trades and can just about perform miracles, thank goodness and yay for me. 

Glass light shades; the white one had a few small rust marks but they're all gone now and looks as good as new.   I love how the clear one has a million teeny little bubbles in it.

 

This boy is really heavy!  Unique and fascinating and I'd love to find out more about it.  Can't find a thing though....

Rebecca and I found two of these, we took one each and now she doesn't want hers anymore so she's passing it onto me - woohoo!

 

 I think this one is very pretty and sweet... looks like a kind of 80's style because of the colour, don't you think?  Still, I really love it.

This one is either copper or brass.  I always get confused with the two.... but the more I look at it, the more I steer toward copper.  Yes, three glass shades are needed for this.

Rebecca raced for this one, but then she passed it onto me - the doll that she is.

Funnily, this was being thrown out a few houses away from me about a year ago.  I grew tired of its not so pretty look, so I dismantled it as much as possible to keep the 'spare parts', which always come in handy... let me tell you!  The rest went to goodwill.

These are very heavy.  I think I'm too frightened of putting them up because of that - don't know why.  I like how it has lead amongst the glass.

 

A simple little thing also in need of glass 3 shades.  One day I'll find them, I'm sure.

 

Last but certainly not least...this light stand didn't have the plastic shade on it - I just plonked it on there for looks, or maybe lack of.  It wasn't working when I found it, but the trusty husbeast fixed it.  I plan on making my own shade for this and it's either going to look spectacular or it will be a downright flop.  My imagination tells me to use alaminium soda cans in a particular way.  I shall not say too much more in case it does work out, then everyone will start copying my idea.  NO NO NO, I do not want people to cash in on my original ideas!!!

So there you go lovely people.... amazing, isn't it?   I love folks that throw out their good lighting.  Please never stop doing that.  ;)

Let there be light.

I love pretty light shades.  Take these sweet ones for instance.... dainty and feminine.  I found one for $10 and three for $5 each.  The $10 one was found whilst happily op shopping with Rebecca (my niece) and the others where from a dingy, dirty, packed to the max second hand store.  The dust on the them must have been a few millimeters thick but I saw the potential.  After washing them at home ever so carefully, I was amazed to not find any scratches or chips anywhere on them!