When we first moved in to our house Reed had to take a day to explore the woods around the house. We heard that the property was bought from an older man who lived here for a long time. He had more land than we currently live on with lots of buildings that he would move his horses between. Only a few of these buildings are still standing and Reed found the old gas can buried in the leaves near one of the old buildings. After being dug up it has lived on our porch for about a month.
I decided after lots of debating that I would make it a lamp!! I had been looking for something unique for our living room but lamps are wayyyyyyy to pricey these days, I just couldn't bring myself to buy anything. Thats when I remembered the can. So I went to Lowe's and purchased the Portfolio bottle lamp kit. You can't just get the lamp kit if you are wanting to use a lamp shade, you also have to get the detachable harp as well. And I knew I was wanting the shade to stand up a good bit from the jug so I had to purchase the longer threaded pipe. I think overall I paid no more than $20, and that is SUPER reasonable for a lamp :)
So first things first I cleaned off the jug. But not too much because the dirt and rust was what I liked the most about it :) Then I matched the drill bit up with the threaded pipe to make sure it fit just right. What you want to do is get a drill bit that is a tiny bit smaller so you can slowly widen the hole to tightly fit the pipe.
Then I realized that the cap was so rusted on that I was going to need a hole in the bottom to get everything through. So I grabbed the tin snips and cut away. I figured it didn't have to look pretty... its the bottom right :) I then thread the wire through the pipe and popped it through the hole in the lid.
Now to keep the rod in place I threaded a washer and nut on the bottom and the again on the top.
The lid was pretty dented so I used the rod to kind of pop it up straight keeping the lamp up straight instead of jutting out to the side.
I then threaded a spacer just a little ways down from the top of the rod leaving just enough space for the remainder of the pieces to fit. I then placed the arms from the harp kit and the base of the lamp where everything will be wired up.
Then you take the two exposed ends of wire and tighten them under the exposed screws of the top of the lamp kit (where the bulb will be screwed in to). Then you fit the two pieces together and WAH LA you have a wired lamp. All thats left is to add the harp, bulb, and shade!
Here is the finished product!! I'm stealing a lamp shade from one of my old ones until I find the perfect one. I think I really it, so I may just look for a new shade for the other lamp. Also, I'm going to get a new side table that actually works next to the tall arms of our sofa, I just haven't found the deal I'm looking for yet :)
Annnnd incase you were wondering, no I haven't sold the chair I made a while back, so I decided to give it a little more "gracie" flair :) If its gonna sit in my living room its gonna fit in, so the legs got a makeover with celery green high gloss paint :) LOVE IT! (PS> it is still up for grabs just $75!)
Sooo I'm in love with my new lamp! So glad I stayed stingy and didn't settle for one of the box store lamps, now I have a one of a kind lamp that has been a part of this house longer than we have!!
*My dad corrected me and said this is not a "jug" but an antique gas can. If it still had the writing on it we would be able to know if it was kerosene or gas by the color of the letters. I've tried to go back through and correct my self, if I missed one sorry :)
**Stay tuned for a big update about the blog this week. I've got plans for the shop and the blog!
**Stay tuned for a big update about the blog this week. I've got plans for the shop and the blog!
