Shop the House: Creative Lighting

Image from Pottery Barn

 I have seen these canning jar lights in Pottery Barn's catalog and I had every intention of making them.  So I was so inspired the other night when it was about 45 minutes till dark and my son (5 yr. old) was playing in the yard.  I walked over to this shrub we have that the 5 yr. old has severely pruned and it was ever so romantically dropping these fabulous smelling blossoms all over the ground.  Thinking in my head, "Boy, tonight would be a great night to set a table up under that shrub.....with those Pottery Barn lights I have been planning on making..."   "Honey, you keep playing and mommy will be right back I'm going to start a project."   

 So, make them I did by shopping the house.  All of my jars were not the same size.  But, I used what I had and it took a dispenser of galvanized wire, wire cutter, the jars, tea light candles, and some white ribbon.  I didn't twist the wires.  I just used a single wire.

 This is how they turned out.  You can see more of the lighting for my tablescape this Thursday.

Image from Pottery Barn

Okay, I also had been planning to copy this look from Pottery Barn.  It worked out with this tablescape I set up. 

My version is a lot different but, I thought somewhat achieved the look.  What is this you ask?  

 This is a cigar mold.  There is still tobacco in the mold.  It's an antique from my  Great-grandfather.  

 There is some writing on it, that I haven't even noticed until I had it in the natural light today.  

 This is how my lighting turned out with the cigar mold.  When I got up the next day all the blossoms were off of the shrub.  Time was of the essence. Check back Thursday to see the whole tablescape. 
I am joining Kendall over a t Finesse Your Nest for Shop the House Sunday.
I will also join Diana at her site The Girl Creative for Just Something I whipped Up Monday.
I will also join Rhoda at her site Southern Hospitality for Today's Thrifty Treasures.

Furniture Feature

I am so excited to finally have a piece of furniture to contribute to some parties.  Being thrifty I did shop the house for this remake.  I have a work area for blogging that was really getting worn out.  Little hands had worked their charms on my desktop and it didn't have any personality to start with. 

 BEFORE

So I decided to resurface the desk.  I kept remembering this little wooden purse I had as a child that came as a kit.  It was a Holly Hobbie decoupage kit.  I loved that purse and had fun making it.  So that was the inspiration for this remodel.

The first step to my remodel was to sand down the top of my desk.  I just made it smooth.

Here the desk was when I was done sanding.  

Now, here is where I got some of the calligraphy I used in my spring vignette on Tuesday.  The images here were from Vintage Printable.  This site has been in several other blogs recently Low Tide High Style was featured here doing a great wall display with this free art work.  It is truly a goldmine for decorating.  Here is one other site you can get calligraphy dafont.com .  That is where I got the calligraphy behind the butterfly picture I did Wednesday.  

So I printed a lot of pictures out to cover my desktop.  Just images that I liked.  I printed out more than I thought I needed so I didn't have to stop Mod Podging and go print more.

 Then I started to decoupage the images to the desktop.

I covered the entire surface with the largest images and then I went back with some smaller images.

The entire desktop was covered and I let each layer of Mod Podge dry well before I applied the next.  Altogether I had 4 coats of it.  I let the final layer dry overnight.

Here is the finished surface close-up.

AFTER

Here is the entire work area remodeled.  I had to buy a few new office supplies to make it more functional.

Here is a bullentin board I purchased at TJMaxx for $15.  I aged it with crackle medium and then painted it black.

Basket just the size of computer disc from Walmart $3.   Kahula mug I already had.

This desk caddy was perfect.  Found at TJMaxx for $12.99.

Here is the finished surface one more time.  No problems with the images coming up.  If they did I would just reapply Mod Podge.  You could also put a clear acrylic sealer on it.  I also used regular copy paper cheapest grade from Walmart.  If the images were printed on something thicker you would have many uneven ridges and more of a chance of the images peeling off.

Total cost for desk $0.

Accessories $ 31

Complete remodel of work space priceless.

I will be linking to Miss Mustard Seeds Furniture Feature Friday, Funky Junk Interiors Saturday Night Special,  Finesse Your Nest Shop the House Sunday, Between Naps on the Porch Metamorphosis Monday, and Coastal Charm's Nifty Thrifty Tuesday. Please head over to these amazing blogs and see what other great remakes are out there.