Glass Bottle Lamp ~ DIY Pottery Barn Knock Off

I'm not really a crazy lamp freak.

Truly, I'm not.

I realize I've already blogged about lamps HERE and HERE.

And, as you've rightly guessed, I'm doing it again right now.

But it's not like I'm obsessed with lamps or anything.

Promise.

I might however, have a unhealthy slight obsession with Pottery Barn.

Their Clift Glass Table Lamp has not helped my obsession one little bit, I might add!

I wanted to hide it under my arm the last time I visited our local Pottery Barn (180 miles away).

But... it would've cost me $280 (on sale) to stop the police from chasing me as I bolted out the door!

So I fell back on my old stand-by...

Make My Own

I showed you my pretty glass jug and the Faux Cork I made for it in this post HERE. 

Well now I'm gonna show you why I needed that faux cork.

Here's How I Did It

For starters, I disassembled an old bedside lamp to use for parts. If you don't have a lamp to tear up, you can buy a lamp kit that'll work just as nicely.

We did discover that the old lamps metal rod was a bit too long for our purposes. 

But Mr. Concrete, as usual, had the perfect solution.

Yes, that's a Concrete saw to cut a tiny little metal rod.

There's no such thing as over-kill at this house!

And here's the rest of the steps...

One.

   Cool off the metal you just super heated with an over-the-top, but very effective saw.

Two.

   Carefully drill a hole in your faux cork to house the metal rod that supports your light.  This is why I needed that faux cork. If I was using a lamp kit, it would've come with bottle adapters to sit in the opening. Well I didn't use one, and even if I had the adapters would've been way to small for my bottle. The faux cork was the exact size I needed and looked much better than what comes in the kit.

Three.

   Thread your wire through the cork and the metal rod. We chose not to drill a hole in the glass bottle (it was the last one, so risking it breaking wasn't an option) so we drilled a second hole in the side of the cork to thread the wire up and over the side of the bottle opening.

Four.

   Rewire the lamp and screw it onto the metal rod base. This is where we discovered that a faux styrofoam cork is problematic for this project. The styrofoam doesn't hold the metal rod very securely and lets everything wobble around. To remedy this, I used good ol' Gorilla Glue to stabilize things. Worked like a charm! (If I did this again, I might use a wooden table leg like THIS as a base for my cork instead of styrofoam. Live and learn.)

And that's it.

I bought a burlap shade from Lowes and my lamp was complete.

I love it! 

Maybe even more than the Pottery Barn lamp.

And BONUS, I didn't have to get arrested OR part with $280 to get it!

Here's what I did part with:

    Michael's Glass Bottle $24

    Supplies for Faux Cork $4

    Lamp Kit Parts $0

    Lowes Burlap Lamp Shade $25

Total: $53

If you're doing the math, that's a $227 savings.

Now I KNOW I love it more than Pottery Barn's!

Oh, I also want to give a shout out about Holly who blogs at Dolce Papier.
Holly was the lucky winner of my Ramsign Giveaway a few months back.
She's posted pics on her blog of how she's using her new sign, and I think it looks fantastic!
Check it out HERE!

Fun Parties I'm Linking Up With:

Sunday

DIY Showoff ~ Flamingo Toes ~ I {heart} Nap Time ~ My 1929 Charmer ~ Nifty Thrifty Things ~ Twigg Studios ~ Under the Table and Dreaming

Monday

Alderberry Hill ~ Between Naps on the Porch ~ Boogieboard Cottage ~ Debbiedoos ~ The Dedicated House ~ Flour Me With Love ~ Holly's Stamping Addiction ~ Home Stories A to Z  ~ Pinkapotamus ~ Serendipity & Spice ~ You Are Talking Too Much

Tuesday

Claiming Our Space ~ Coastal Charm ~ Cowgirl Up ~ The D.I.Y. Dreamer ~ Elizabeth & Co. ~ Homework ~ House on the Way ~ My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia ~ Not Just a Housewife ~ Today's Creative Blog

Wednesday

 A Creative Princess ~ Embracing Change ~ Fine Craft Guild ~ Fireflies & Jellybeans ~ Homestead Simple ~ Ivy & Elephants ~ My Girlish Whims ~ {PRIMP} ~ Savvy Southern Style ~ Sew Much Ado

Thursday

The ArtsyGirl Connection ~ Beyond the Picket Fence ~ Bliss Ranch ~ City Girl Gone Coastal ~ A Glimpse Inside ~ House of Hepworths ~ No Minimalist Here ~ The Shabby Creek Cottage ~ Somewhat Simple ~ Sweet Bella Roos ~ The 36th Avenue

Friday~

Common Ground ~ Crafty Scrappy Happy ~ Create Craft Love ~ Finding Fabulous ~ French Country Cottage ~ The Grant Life ~ Jennifer Rizzo ~ My Romantic Home ~ Redoux ~ Serenity Now ~ The Shabby Nest ~ Stuff & Nonsense ~ Tatertots & Jello ~ 2805

Saturday

Classy Clutter ~ Funky Junk Interiors ~ It's Overflowing ~ Natasha in Oz ~ Positively Splendid ~ Too Much Time on My Hands

Mr. Concrete Knows How To Say "Happy Anniversary"!!

Up until this moment, 95% of the pictures I've taken for this blog have been shot with my iPhone.
A few of the pics in my first posts were taken with an old point-and-shoot camera, but it didn't take long to realize that my iPhone (plus some creative editing) produced WAY better images than that poor old thing.

Pathetic, I know.

Another tidbit of interesting info is that up until a few weeks ago, Mr. Concrete hadn't read a single word, or looked at a single photo on this little blog.

When I'd ask him, he'd just say something like, "why read about it when I've watched you do everything on the kitchen counter?"
I'll admit the man had a point.

Maybe it was the many hours he spent waiting for me to come to bed while I edited crappy photos.
Or it could've been the teensy amount of griping I rarely did about my need for a better camera... but Mr. Concrete figured it out!

Today is our 17th Wedding Anniversary, and I came home from work Friday to find THIS on my nightstand!

A Canon Rebel T3i DSLR camera!

EEEEEEK!!

What an amazingly sweet man I have!!

I've basically spent the last 2 days playing and learning.

I can now say words like Aperture, Shutter Speed and ISO and have an actual clue what they kind-of mean. (except I just typed iOS instead of ISO... what can I say, I'm an Apple/Mac girl)

So without further ado, here's some of the shots I've played around with this weekend.

With absolutely NO editing!

Please be kind.

I'm a DSLR newbie. :)

My Little Man in his Bane Halloween Costume... I know, a bit disturbing!

I'm super excited to experience the joy of taking pics with a camera that doesn't interrupt my latest pic with a text! 

Thanks for such a sweet and unexpected Anniversary present babe! (even though it may be 3 months, or never, till you read this :)

How to Make a Faux Cork

What?
So not everyone NEEDS a faux cork?
I know that's what you're thinking!

Hogwash!

Fiddlestix!

Yeah, I know. No one uses those words anymore.
Well they should!
They're so fun to say.
Try it now... I dare ya!

Now you have two new words to annoy your family with today.
You can thank me later. :)

Now where was I? Oh yes!

CORKS!

The FAUX kind.

Wanna learn how to make one?

Well I'm gonna show you anyway. Take that!

So here's the nitty gritty.

You'll need some brown craft paper, Mod Podge, one of those styrofoam cone thingies from Michael's, a sponge brush and a serrated knife.
Oh, and a cutting board might be handy unless you're into that "mess up the table and pretend it never happened" kinda thing. 
Not that that's ever happened here of course, but it's just a thought.

And the steps go something like this...

One.
   Use your serrated knife to cut your styrofoam cone thingy down to whatever size you think looks right.
   If once you're done you find you can't cut a straight line to save your life, you can use the piece you just cut off like sandpaper to level it out. 
   Again, never happened here of course! I'm just sayin'.

Two.
   Tear up several pieces of the craft paper.

Three.
   Working in sections, paint a liberal amount of Mod Podge on the styrofoam.
   Do the same on the back side of your craft paper then smooth it onto the styrofoam.
   Once it's smoothed out, apply one more coat of Mod Podge over the top.

After this has all dried, and you've removed the enormous layer of glue that's coating your fingers, put yet another coat of Mod Podge over the whole thing.

Here it is all dry.
Do you see the issue that had me all fussy and irritated at this point? (slight exaggeration, but you get my drift)

My Mod Podge Is Showing!

Ok, so this isn't quite as big of a problem as say, "my roots are showing" or "my bra is showing" or my all time favorite "my butt-crack is showing".

Butt (pun intended there!), it's still annoying!

I put it on so thick that even after it dried it was still white in spots. GRR!

Butt (pun again! you can smack me at the end, I just can't help myself today) I had a plan.

I slathered on some Annie Sloan dark wax and I think it did the trick!

Mod Podge Managed!

Not to be confused with "Mischief Managed"... how I love Harry Potter!!

So here it is!

I now have a faux cork for my new on-clearance-at-Michael's-for-half-price-glass-jug that I bought yesterday.

Yippy!

And why does one need a faux cork for their pretty new clearance jug?

Well I couldn't find a real one the right size. Plus, it keeps the dust out, looks cool and helps with what I have planned for it next!

But that's a story for another post... {which you can now see HERE}

I'm off to Tulsa now to hang with my sis and parents for a day. Hope you all have an amazing, fun filled, cork making weekend! :)

Fun Parties I'm Linking Up With:

Sunday

DIY Showoff ~ Flamingo Toes ~ I {heart} Nap Time ~ My 1929 Charmer ~ Nifty Thrifty Things ~ Twigg Studios ~ Under the Table and Dreaming

Monday

Alderberry Hill ~ Between Naps on the Porch ~ Boogieboard Cottage ~ Debbiedoos ~ The Dedicated House ~ Flour Me With Love ~ Holly's Stamping Addiction ~ Home Stories A to Z  ~ Pinkapotamus ~ Serendipity & Spice ~ You Are Talking Too Much

Tuesday

Claiming Our Space ~ Coastal Charm ~ Cowgirl Up ~ The D.I.Y. Dreamer ~ Elizabeth & Co. ~ Homework ~ House on the Way ~ My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia ~ Not Just a Housewife ~ Sugar Bee Crafts ~ Today's Creative Blog

Wednesday

 A Creative Princess ~ Embracing Change ~ Fine Craft Guild ~ Fireflies & Jellybeans ~ Homestead Simple ~ Ivy & Elephants ~ My Girlish Whims ~ {PRIMP} ~ Savvy Southern Style ~ Sew Much Ado

Thursday

The ArtsyGirl Connection ~ Beyond the Picket Fence ~ Bliss Ranch ~ City Girl Gone Coastal ~ A Glimpse Inside ~ House of Hepworths ~ No Minimalist Here ~ The Shabby Creek Cottage ~ Somewhat Simple ~ Sweet Bella Roos ~ The 36th Avenue

Friday~

Common Ground ~ Crafty Scrappy Happy ~ Create Craft Love ~ Finding Fabulous ~ French Country Cottage ~ The Grant Life ~ Jennifer Rizzo ~ My Romantic Home ~ Redoux ~ Serenity Now ~ The Shabby Nest ~ Stuff & Nonsense ~ Tatertots & Jello ~ 2805

Saturday

Classy Clutter ~ Funky Junk Interiors ~ It's Overflowing ~ Natasha in Oz ~ Positively Splendid ~ Too Much Time on My Hands