Upcycled Lamp Base

Well, the Fundraiser garage sale for Flood Relief in Pakistan on Saturday was great! Not a lot of traffic flow but there were a few surprises and lessons along the way:

1.      The first surprise:

was when  the City of Calgary Mayor, Naheed Nenshi tweeted about our event at the Grace Presbyterian. He is the most connected mayor Calgary has seen and is really accountable for his actions. Wishing all the best for him and his career. Thank you Mayor Nenshi.

2.       Next, because of the Mayor's tweet, CTV news Calgary surprised us to videotape and take pictures of our event. I’m still waiting for the photos/ article on the event but nonetheless I was very excited. 

3.       Finally, the volunteers and I learned a real lesson in the power of traditional advertising. The Red mile was dead, surprisingly, we figured it was because of the long weekend. Nonetheless , there was minimal foot traffic so  to increase traffic flow to the church, we hit the streets and handed out flyers, talked to passersby and shop owners to spread the word. This type of advertising really worked, we created traffic from nothing. I feel it was a major achievement.

Now that that event is behind me, I still have quite a few things left to sell for the cause. So for the next week, I’m holding an online garage sale on Kijiji. I’m hoping we can raise more money through this forum. 

As for today’s post, well I’m here to show you how I upcycled a simple lamp base that I got for free from a friend’s donation pile and turned it into a decorative planter for my guest bedroom. I started with a clean slate, white textured lamp base. 

I turned the lamp base upside down and removed the black backing from underneath the lamp. This exposed a large hole from which I removed the lamp kit by snipping the wire . Using a bow saw, my hubbie removed the silver metal piece on top. Finally, I painted the whole thing with Kiwi green paint from Folkart that I purchased from Michaels for 89 cents. A few branches were placed into the planter and soon I had a mix of texture with colour for this room. These branches were a roadside find that I dried for a very long time on top of the kitchen cabinets. Previously, they were paired with the soft greens of some artificial leaves that I have had for forever. This above the cabinet style just doesn’t work for me and I stowed the branches away for later use.  That later use came sooner than later and here it is, the finished product in its designated spot.

 Later this week, I'm giving you a sneak peek into holiday decorating and tablescapes at my house as well as the reveal of my free Kijiji chair for my future bedroom office vignette.