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Jul 23, 2012

Blue Light Special

This past weekend we decided to do absolutely nothing. How often do you do that? For us, almost never. There is always something waiting to be done.  But we ignored it all and just relaxed. Tom napped in the hammock for hours, and I read an entire book.

We did manage to fit one little project in though. Something just for fun. I had bought a large glass vase at Homesense a few weeks ago and Tom decided to turn it into a lantern for the deck.


I realized afterwards that no one took a picture of the vase before we started. If you can imagine no rope around the base, this is what it looked like in the store.


It's about 14 inches high and it gave the living room a much needed pop of colour. And then Tom swiped it. I guess I'll just have to buy another one, won't I, Tom?

We started by building a wooden base to give it stability. Tom drew two concentric circles on a scrap piece of wood and cut out the outside circle with the jigsaw.


He used the router to carve out the inner groove that the vase would fit into and a smaller circle in the centre for the light. I'm sure there is a more poetic way to describe this but it isn't coming to me right now.




I puttied the holes, sanded all of the edges, and then did my favourite finish - two coats of Minwax Jacobean stain, two coats of watered down beige paint, and then a coat of wax.  

The light is just a little flashlight. It has one centre light and four outside lights for different levels of brightness. We glued it into the center of the base to keep it steady.


While the glue was setting, I hot glued thick twine to the top (formerly the bottom) of the vase. The base is very rustic looking and the top needed something to balance it out.

It's pretty cute, right? The edge of the vase fits tightly into the groove in the base, yet it easily slides out to turn the light on and off.



Some wicker and starfish to give it a nautical edge.


We waited around for dark to take some more shots. Unfortunately the mosquitoes were so bad that I could only get a few. And my arms ended up with a dozen bites anyway.




Tom is so proud of this one. We paid $14 for the vase and $5 for the light. Everything else we already had. So less than $20 all together. How much do you think it would cost in a store? 




I'm kind of proud of it, too!

~~~~~

I'm linking up here this week!




39 comments:

Joanne said...

Awesome!

Offthegridat30 said...

This is really fantastic! I would love for you to share it and others on my new blog hop Frugal "I Did It!" Tuesday. http://offthegridat-30.blogspot.ca/2012/07/frugal-i-did-it-tuesday-2.html

Jennifer Dawn Oliver Shelton said...

Love this project!  It turned out great!

Megan said...

What a beautiful project! Megan

Ca4ole said...

Enjoyed your post.  Glad I found you through It's Just Called
Spicy.  I linked in a post about 2
versions of that old retro fave, prawn cocktail.  Have a good week.

Marci Vaughn said...

The flashlight under the vase makes me think of a light house!  What a beautiful centerpiece!  -Marci

Distresseddonna said...

Came over from Peas.  I love anything cobalt blue and this is so cute.  I especially liked the way you staged it with the shells and basket.

Distressed Donna Down Home

Megan Dobbs said...

I thought the same thing as Marci, the flashlight looks like a little light house, and is adorable with the starfish! Super cute idea, I will have to keep an eye out for a vase that would workMarci Vaughn 
 Visiting from Whimsically Homemade! 

Nicole@ Show Off Friday said...

Very cute! It sounds like you had a nice relaxing weekend.

BarbSteadman said...

Thanks, it was pretty terrific!

BarbSteadman said...

Thank you! I'm trying to get more blue into our house.

BarbSteadman said...

That's what I thought too!

BarbSteadman said...

I thought so too!

BarbSteadman said...

I saw that one - it looks good!

BarbSteadman said...

Thanks Megan!

BarbSteadman said...

Thanks!

BarbSteadman said...

Thanks!

Hani Shabbir said...

Fantastic project.. I am pinning this! Thanks for linking up at Friday Fun Party. Have a nice weekend!

Emily @ Sweetbellaroos said...

So cute! And so funny that he swiped it from the living room haha.  Thanks for linking up to Pin It Thursday

becolorful said...

So pretty. There is something about blue and candlelight that is just so soothing. Thanks for sharing on BeColorful.
p

Tonia@thegunnysack said...

Cute! My grandma loved all things blue so this makes me think about her!

Michelle said...

This a great project. I absolutely love how it turned out. My mom is really into nautical decor. She would love it even more than I do. 

Amie @ Pinkapotamus said...

Wow!  This looks amazing!  I just love all the little touches to make it a unique lantern.. Looks great on the deck too!
Thanks for sharing with the Pink Hippo Party!
xoxo
Amie @ Pinkapotamus  

april o said...

This is a super rad idea......great job! I love the blue color of the glass! I hope you will link up with me here:
http://www.thegingerbreadblog.com/2012/07/sweet-saturday-link-party-v49.html

Kathryn Griffinn said...

You should be quite proud of this!  So cute and clever.  Thank you for sharing this at my Make it Pretty Monday party at The Dedicated House.  Hope to see you again on Monday.  Toodles, Kathryn @TheDedicatedHouse 

Kathe Burke said...

Such a perfect color of vase to use!  I love the ingenuity that went to creating this light!  Thanks for sharing at the party this week!  I love it!

Kadie Arrington said...

Very clever!!  I love the way it turned out!  I'll be featuring it tomorrow at our party.  Thanks so much for partying with us at Link It Up Thursday.:)

Britni said...

Another amazing project!! And pretty too! Thanks so much for sharing at my Throwback Thursday party! I hope to see you again this week :)

Maria Matter said...

totally adore this!!!
I'll be featuring you this week @ Inspire Me Fridays, thank you so much for linking up!

BarbSteadman said...

Thanks Maria!

BarbSteadman said...

Thanks Britni!

BarbSteadman said...

Thanks Kadie!

BarbSteadman said...

Thank you! I have to give Tom the credit though!

BarbSteadman said...

Thank you!

BarbSteadman said...

Thanks!

BarbSteadman said...

Aww, that's nice. Thank you!

BarbSteadman said...

Thanks!

BarbSteadman said...

Thank you! I made him go to Ikea though to find a replacement!

BarbSteadman said...

Thank you!

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