I’m sad to report that my beloved mercury glass lamp was shattered last week during an altercation between the two youngest boys and a rifle. It was a one-of-a-kind find (of course!) at TJMaxx, and cannot be replaced. The casualties of war. {sigh}
So, I’m calling on all you crafty ladies. Since all the working components (even the main structure) of the lamp are still intact, what are your creative ideas for fashioning a new base?
If your idea is chosen, I’ll be sending YOU a posie pin in a color of your choice!
You have until Friday to leave a comment with your fabulous ideas. Have fun!
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so i don’t even know if this would work with the parts that you have available or not (and it may be more my style than yours), but i saw a large mason jar as a base of a lamp, and it had the capability of holding items in it, along with giving off light. i told myself that i wanted to do that sometime but thus far it hasn’t happened. and you don’t have to consider this an official entry… just a thought from me.
How about gluing some shiny and/or matte silver Christmas ornaments around it (without letting the top of the bulb show of course, that way no one knows they’re ornaments)….
Or what if you took some tall white or silver candles and placed them around the base, and tied them together in place with silver painted twine?
Take some of that wire edged, metallic, fine mesh, 2″ ribbon in silvery/gold just like your mercury glass. Buy a whole spool of it. You can find it at a good sewing/crafts store (you probably already know this). Baste one side of it… all the way down the one edge. Sew a glass bead in that same silvery/gold metallic here and there (again, at a good craft store) on the ribbon. Pull the thread to make it ruffly. Wind the ribbon around the stem of that lamp, but make it tight so each layer rests on the last one. You’ll have that metallic look, unique because those cool glass beads will be peeking out, but it CAN’T BREAK!! LOL!
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Oh, that was a gorgeous lamp…
I don’t know what I did, but that was supposed to end with a frowny face! LOL! Let me try again…
Oh no that beautiful lamp….how sad!
Have a great day!
Hugs Gunilla in Singapore
First, find yourself a large glass vase from craft store usually used for candles measuring to the size you want. Then find someone with glass cutting tool to drill a hole large enough to fit the top part of lamp stem. Next, paint the inside of the glass vase with metalic paint and even with design, if you want. Lastly, glue the glass vase to the base and you got yourself a new lamp! Have fun!!!
Okay, so I’ve been thinking about this for a couple of days. At first I was going to say river rocks. I saw a very cool lamp once that had beautiful, smooth, palm sized river rocks stacked, one on top of the other, with the post of the lamp coming up through them. BUT, you would have to figure out a way to bore holes through rocks… not so simple.
Then I was going to suggest glass… a pitcher or a vase… but I cannot for the life of me figure out how you make a hole in the bottom of the glass container.
And then, I considered my modernist sensibilities and I how much I love the simple drum shade and the white and the chrome. You know what I think I would do… honestly. I think I’d plunk that shade right back on the lamp and simply let it be an ultra simple, modern, chrome and white pedestal lamp. And then, someday when the inspiration hit or I found just the right piece to use on the base, then I would recreate it.
I think it would be really neat if you could somehow remake the lamp to reflect your Chinese heritage or the beautiful southwest arid terrain where you live.
Oh, just thought of a glass hurricane… it’s open on both ends. If you could find one that is the right height and width you could use that. Have the post of the lamp come up through the hurricane shade. Perhaps you could fill it with pretty rocks, colorful marbles, sea shells, or simply paint the inside of the glass to give it color and texture. Hmmm, lots of possibilities there if you can find one that is just the right size.
Ruth, I don’t know if you want to recreat the mercury glass look, but i found these instructions on a do-it-yourself. You could hit Goodwill to see it they have any interesting vintage looking vases. If not Hobby Lobby has sales all the time on their glassware. You may even find a piece you like that is done. Any way here are the instructions:
Step 1: Clean your vase thoroughly. Dust and grime are no good.
Step 2: Cover the inner surface of the vase with silver leaf adhesive. Let it sit for 10 minutes or so.
Step 3: Apply rub-on silver leaf sheets in patches to the glass, making sure to leave plenty of uncovered areas. I did some large patches, and some lighter, flakier patches for a varied look.
Step 3: To achieve an even more roughed up look, take some sand paper and strategically scratch off some of the silver leaf.
Step 3: Cover the inner surface with spray-on leaf sealer.
Step 4: Spray 3 or 4 thin coats of Krylon Looking Glass Paint over the silver leafing to smooth out the look.
http://www.weddingbeepro.com/2009/04/20/making-mercury-glass/