Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Alice-Inspired Lamp DIY

OR more accurately titled: I saw a cute lamp a while ago on Anthropologie for close to 300 bucks and said "F this, I'm making a cuter one."

Things are a little askew in my little life at the moment, so I decided to do a little something to take my mind off of things. Our final for Color & Light is to design and build a custom light. Two birds, one stone. Perfect.

This is the original, from Anthropologie:

Cute, but not $300 cute. No way, Jose!

So here's what I did.
FIRST, I thrifted all day long for vintage dishes. I wanted them to be mostly white, but when I found the green I was smitten and I had to include it. My Great Aunt also donated the pretty textured glass dish that I used for the base. All of my dishes were a buck a piece. SCORE. (As far as dishes, you will need: three saucers, two teacups, one teapot, and a bowl)

THEN, I took a reluctant trip to Lowe's to buy 1.) A wiring kit (9 bucks), some epoxy (4 bucks), a diamond drill bit for ceramics (12 bucks) and browse lamp shades.

Once I got everything home, I removed all of the sticker residue (HATE STICKER RESIDUE) with rubbing alcohol, and then washed everything in warm soapy water.


Then I would suggest dry fitting everything to figure out how you want it to look. Some dishes fit a lot better than others, so it's sort of just trial and error.

After you have the arrangement you want, take a sharpie and make a dot in the center of each dish.
You'll need to drill through all of the dishes so that the wire can go all the way through. This was probably the most tedious part of the entire process. Each dish will take anywhere from 1-5 minutes, depending on the thickness of the porcelain. AND you need a special drill bit. This one worked really well and wasn't too expensive.

Once you've drilled through the center of all of the dishes, you need to thread the wire through whatever you've chosen as your base. Then, you will mix a small amount of epoxy as you go. Attach the base to the next piece after threading it through. You get the idea.

This epoxy worked really well. It's cheap, and you don't end up needing more than one.

Continue threading the wire and epoxying your dishes together. You'll want a teacup to be the last piece so that you can cover it with something to attach to the socket. I used a canning lid, but it was sort of flimsy, so perhaps a piece of metal that fits over the teacup opening. You might also use wood. Drill a hole through it and attach the socket. The directions for wiring you socket should be on the back of your wiring kit, and will be a lot easier to understand than me trying to explain it. Ha.

I used a harp-less shade for mine, but you could also attach a harp to the socket (it's included in your kit) and choose a shade that needs a harp. And here's what it looks like when it's done:



I'm pretty pleased with it. :)
Hope your week is going smoothly. It's soooo cold out!

Love, Mae

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

There Are No Words




Jeremy's album is nothing short of exquisite.
They Reappear is easily his best work, and his performance at the Gillioz was an amazing experience. So incredibly beautiful and cinematic. My favorites are "Half Speed," "Intervention" and "Doe Eyed Children."

If you haven't already, please go grab a copy, and take about an hour to listen to this album. It definitely deserves it.

You can listen or buy HERE

Love, M

Sunday, March 13, 2011

5 Thingssss

1.) Eisley's new album. :)


Saw Stacey Dupree at the Gillioz last night. So magical.

2.) THIS is pretty sweet. I own the starlette crown, and I am lussssting over this new one. WANT.



3.) The CUTEST store window, like.. ever.


4.) THIS BEAUTY


5.) And this.


Hope your weekend was beautiful.

Love.

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Dark Was the Night


Exactly.

Here are five dark images I'm lovin' this week






Black is the new black.

Love, M

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Always Gets Me Into Trouble


I have found my "signature drink." Ha
It's a Brandy Alexander.
It can be made with half and half, but I prefer it with ice cream.
Brandy, White creme de cacao liqueur, Vanilla Ice Cream.
(And nutmeg on top, if ya like)

And in lieu of Brandy Alexanders..



Love.