Lampshades and Petticoats...

My felted baby sweaters, so sweet. Also sold more felted pillows and hand woven scarfs.

Had a great day today at a local art show held at a wonderful coffee house in Ottawa, Il. My felted "baby dumplin" sweaters were a hit. So many compliments and kind words...ooohh's and aahhhhh's...aren't they sweet...and of course some sales! After the show I had one hour before picking up my pizza to take home with me and decided to do some fast and furious shopping at two of my favorite stores. One, a beautiful gift and home store where I purchased some spring silk greens to wrap around my birdcage that I have on my dining room table. It is my dining room table centerpiece and it sits on a concrete pedestil. Inside are three real bird's nests that I found in my backyard.  On days like that when I find such treasures I feel like I've won the lottery. Crazy, I know. I'm easily pleased.

Two of the birds nests are so tiny and fit in the palm of my hand. A finch's nest perhaps. I'm almost afraid to handle them for fear they will fall apart. Delicate...whispy...a place where a fairy could lay her tiny head. One of the nests has several beautiful, blue eggs still in it. It is the larger of the three nests that I have placed in the birdcage. I've placed the nests on some green moss and I've put a wreath of tiny pink flowers to crown the bird cage. Sweet and lovely.

The other store I had to stop at is a second hand store. And you know how I like these kinds of places. So many past good finds. Scrabble pieces...old christmas ornaments... a glass rooster. I only had fifteen minutes before the store closed so I was on a mission. The store smells damp and musty but that doesn't matter. Gives the place character.

Beautiful old chandelier crystals sparkle underneath the crinoline ruffles

As I dashed around the cluttered and dark isles I spotted the most wonderful, old, silk, lampshade in the most unusual shape. SCORE. The satin cover was in great condition, no rips or tears except for two very tiny areas on the underside of the shade. Barely noticeable. The satin had a lovely aged shade of soft brown. Tea stained. Like coffee with too much cream in it. Trimmed with a chocolate brown braid around the edges. I grabbed it like a kid that finds a ten dollar bill on the ground and carted it home with my pizza. It was marked $10 but I got it for $8. Oh joy. Now the fun begins.

Louie the cat checking out those "pretty dangly things" on the lamp.

I have this thing for old lampshades. Love their shape. Love when they are stripped of their cloth skin and just the wire shows. Bare bones. Ready to transform. Wish I could say it was all my brilliant idea to do this to an old lampshade It isn't. Saw some of these repurposed shades in Ruby Begonias, another favorite spot in Morris, IL. You can read all about it in this older post.

Back to the lampshade. I raced upstairs to my bedroom and promptly unscrewed the shade of a pretty little lamp that I got on sale at Hobby Lobby a few weeks ago. It is a tall lamp but not quite tall enough for the side table I put it on so it sits on a stack of old books giving it the height that it needed. Grabbed some old chandelier crystals and hung them from the ends of the four turned up corners of the lamp. Now, the icing on the cake. Tucked in one of my closets is a muted pink crinoline skirt. Circa 1950. Ready to fluff any poodle skirt. But not this time. I had another use for it.

Need some height for your lamp to give it more of a presence? Stack some old books or wooden boxes to give it a boost. An old red Webster's Dictionary accents the red from the wall paper .

I put the crinoline over the lampshade and with a few tucks here and a few pins there I had the most outrageous, delicious, girly girl lamp shade ever. Thank god I have a tolerant husband. However since the new king size bed and "sleeping on a cloud" mattress he says nothing about the girly stuff. I absolutely love it! Not a bad day. Oh, and the pizza was good too.

The finished shade...I've fallen in love with it! I did find a piece of old lace in my stash that I eventually tied around the middle of the shade. So cool. It was the icing on the cake and I will post pictures of the final lampshade soon.

So what do you think of my $8 lampshade?