How My Lamp Got Its Groove Back

[angabel.livejournal.com]

This is the story of a sad little lamp.





I've had this for a few years. The base is entirely clear and totally awesome (even if it has led my friends to make anal bead jokes when they see it). The shade was a boring circle with nothing on it; it was a fill-in until my mom could find me a retro one, or I got around to decorating it.

Well, I did.





I bought the beaded fringe and decided to go with interlocking rectangles.

I feel the need to point out here that my friend and I were having an arts and crafts day. We had both been working on decoupaging pieces of furniture in his apartment and despite the fan running and the window all the way open, the acrylic spray was starting to get us a little high. I got up to get a piece of paper towel and...



I sat on my lampshade.



I was upset, to say the least.

My friend dragged me on a Wal-Mart run where I bought another fringe, another lampshade, and some new brushes. I had started to see how ugly the first lampshade was and the shitty job I had done on painting it.

This usually happens to me. I get all excited about a project and something happens that messes it up. I feel like this normally happens while doing crafty things, but I was shocked at how blatant the sign was for me. It wasn't that my paint ran or my vision of what I wanted to do didn't work out; I literally SAT on my lampshade, crushing it.

This time, I took more time tracing and painting and added the fringe last, as the fringe on the other lampshade had started falling apart.

The end result:







Oh lamp, how could I have ever doubted you? Clearly I was meant to use your old lampshade as a practice run for your new shade. :)