diy gold leafed lamp

i found this lamp about three months ago 

for $3 at a local thrift store.

i completely flipped over the size and shape,

and knew i could make it into something special.

although it looks wood, it is actually some type of resin.

it is very heavy and well made, 

and i love the slight wood grain and 

the scratches and dings all over it.

i knew i wanted to use this lamp in my "new" den, 

and so when i decided to paint the walls of my "den" a dark, moody blue, 

i thought gold might be a nice contrast.

i remembered seeing a chest that jenny had silver leafed, 
and thought that this lamp would look great gold.

plus, it was so easy!

what i used:

gold leaf

gold leaf spray adhesive

foam brush
my 9 year old daughter as slave labor

 i taped off the base, which i did not want to be gold leafed, 
and lightly sprayed the lamp with the "gold leaf" spray adhesive.
***

(i paid about $7 for that little can of specialty adhesive, 
but i thought it smelled and worked exactly like my beloved 
super 77 spray mount. if i had it to  do over again, i would

have just used spray mount)
***

then,  i gently applied the gold leaf sheets to the lamp,
and used the foam brush to press it in to the crevices.

here it is finished.

it was a little messy, but totally easy!

as you can probably see, the neck of the lamp was 

WAY too long...any shade that i put on 

looked completely ridiculous. 

(like an orange on a toothpick!)

plus, the top was all "wonky".

so, i called a local lamp repair company

to see how much they would charge me

to cut down the neck and rewire it.

as soon as i heard "$27",

i raced over.

here is my almost complete lamp:

the lamp was rewired 

and 3" were cut off the neck.

i still need to touch up the base.

it's a little dinged up.

i was really impressed with all the work that

i was able to get done for $27!

i also need to buy a new shade for it.

of course, i have an old yucky shade that

came with another thrift store lamp i bought...

i might just recover it in a nice linen.

or, use this restoration hardware drum shade that

i picked up for $1 (YES, $1!!) at the 

downeast clearance center. 

you can't tell

from the pictures, but it is in bad shape as well...

it has some stickers on the back and it

is really dirty. maybe it would look good

covered in the linen...

hmm...decisions, decisions.

which shape do you think would looks best?

linking to:

remodlaholic

diy show off

tatertots and jello