So pleased with my first upcycling project!!

I am so pleased with my first upcycling item that I have had to show you guys :-)  While we were away in Hastings, there were soooo many antique shops to look in, we had so much fun and kept dry from the rain!  After watching French Collection on C4 so many times on tv, with all their buying, upcycling & selling ideas, when I saw this gorgeous bottle in one of the shops I knew straight away it would be fantastic to turn into a lamp.  Even better it was a massive £2, wow!

So this weekend, we went to B&Q to get all the bits and bobs we needed to turn the bottle into a lamp.  I've got to admit at this point I was extremely nervous knowing that when we got back home I would have to drill a hole into it without it cracking.

Our shopping listed consisted of...

Lampholder

Lighting accessories pack

Glass & tile drill bit

5m 2 Core Flat Flex

Masking Tape

Light bulb

Plug

Lampshade

The small opening at the top of the bottle was ideal to place the light fitting in but how to hold it secure was the one thing I was unsure about.  We spent a while looking at the different options, yet still undecided.  As hubbie was with me, as usual he asked for help, within minutes the member of staff handed us the items we would need, not only that but explained to us how to do it and gave us extra ideas.  I wish I could remember his name because he was such a wonderful help, B&Q listen out!!

The good news is I didn't crack the bottle while drilling the hole, I put a small piece of masking tape across and slowly drilled, stopping a few times.  Then fed the flex through the hole to the top.  As the bottle already had cork in the top I decided to make a hole in it and try to place the flex and metal fixing from the accessory pack through it, which actually worked.  

Next it was time to wire the flex to the lampholder and join that to the metal fixing, trying not to put a lot of pressure on the cork below.

Once the plug was wired, it was case of adding the final touch with the lampshade and here we have it, my first upcycling project completed!!

Just saying, I'm sooo proud :-)

Sharon x

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My favourite gift this Christmas - The Pineapple Lamp from Good Gracious

This Christmas my favourite gift I gave out was the one to my youngest son, a Pineapple Table Lamp.  Why? I hear you ask.....He absolutely loves Pineapples, every time we go to the supermarket we almost always have a Pineapple or a fresh box of pineapple chunks in the shopping trolley.  When his teacher asked him what he would ask for if she was to buy him a present his reply was simply a pineapple, which gave her quite a chuckle I was told.

So I thought it would be a great idea to see if I could get him a pineapple lamp for his bedroom, we had only just decorated and kitted out his older brother's bedroom, so this would be a great touch to his bedroom plus it would give him such a giggle.

My mission, I chose to except, was to search the Internet to see what was available, not as easy as I first thought as I wanted something teenager like, nothing too childish and not brass or china.  Then I found it from a company called Good Gracious!

Product details: 
Size: 33 x 18cm (approx)
Material: Moulded, heat resistant plastic

All prices include VAT and FREE UK SHIPPING Shipping to countries outside of Europe available.

Additional Details: CE certified, and supplied as standard with 220-240v light fittings with an EU plug (plus a CE certified UK adapter for UK) For indoor use only.

Manufactured and hand finished in Germany



Both my husband and I were so excited when the lamp arrived to see how it really looked.  We were so pleased, it was just perfect.  First it was made from hard plastic so if it was accidentally knocked over then there would be no problem.  The detail on the lamp was great with the colours, the shaped peel to the fruit and the tuft of spiky leaves to the top.

We seriously could not wait for him to open it on Christmas Day, it was so much fun to see their faces, that was definitely one present that they were not expecting to see.

On Boxing Day the lamp made it's way to his bedroom where he couldn't wait to use it.  You can see from the image above the detail and just how well made it is.

Here it is in the dark as well which makes it look so much better !!

I'm so grateful to Good Gracious for making this idea become reality, this was the only company I could find in the UK that had what I was looking for, without them we would not have had such a great subject to talk about.  What's more I found out that their salesroom is only 1 hours drive away !!

Check out their fantastic products HERE

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Sharon x
   
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