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Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Trying New Things - The Lamp


This is a table lamp that I picked up at a church rummage sale -- a sale in which the ladies running the show would not allow me to spend a dime.  This lamp was the first thing that we got into my car. At the end of the hour at that church, I had a bunch of new things for the "loot box."

I couldn't wait to get home and show my son his new bedside table.  I knew he would scrunch up his face at the brass coloring but I had plans for that table. Yes indeedy.  I shall show no fear at brass and metal. That lamp was getting a makeover.

Now where is my paint?

I had heard stories about how difficult it is to change anything brass and in fact, I had noticed that Goodwill is just overrun with anything that has a gold or brass tint.  I was determined that this lamp was going to be a glossy black. The colors of my son's room are blue and black with a smattering of silver and red. Silver might have been an easier color to spray over the brass but black was what I saw in my head.

White, red, more white, grey, silver, primer white, more primer white, lite blue, dark blue. All those cans of spray paint and no black?  *&*#%*#$  Curse, bad word, curse.  Hmmm. Okay, well it needs to be primed anyway.  Carefully taping up the glass table and the lamp socket, off I went outside with the lamp, newspaper and spray can of Kilz.  Half hour later, the brass lamp was now white.

After ten days, it was time to make that lamp a shiny black. I had read somewhere that if you are painting a metal object, the longer you let the primer sit, the better the final coat of paint will go on to the lamp. I figured ten days was good.  Believing I had just overlooked the black spray paint, I pulled out all the cans again.  Nope. No black.  Uh oh.  Three little cans of brush on black glossy but no spray.......Dare I??  Brush black paint on a metal lamp?  Hmmmm.  Brush marks, dripping, uneven....surely this is not going to work.

Well, I swore not to buy any paint so out came my little brush - an artist's brush and a little foam brush.  First coat -- looks okay to me.  That little brush sure came in handy as I discovered there are teeny tiny places to paint on a lamp.  Second coat - here goes nothing....

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TA DAH!!

Look how black and shiny.  Fits perfectly with the color scheme in my son's room.  It's perfect....well.... wonder how he would feel about a silver chain around the lampshade.  Just a little bit of glue....