In an earlier post, I mentioned the broken chandelier parts that my brother had given to me. Whenever he finds anything a bit out of the ordinary, he immediately thinks of me and the Little Bayou House. Yep, the house and I are both a bit eccentric and eclectic so broken chandeliers fit right in with our "style" or lack of it. The house, being decorated by me, has no say in its contents so I feel free to be as whimsical, weird or aberrant as I wish to be. It is funny because the two menfolk that live here (husband and son) have grown so accustomed to the oddities that they do not question anything...ANYTHING! Then again, I am not sure they even notice. Men are like that sometimes. Just block it out if it does not seem normal...I am not normal. I do not wish to be normal. Normal is boring.
Anyway, I took to tinkering with the chandelier parts once I had them totally cleaned. Knowing that I really had no place to hang yet another odd lighting feature, it seemed only natural to make a table lamp. Yeah, well, that meant putting top parts on the bottom and bottom parts on the top and then adding a few things from other projects or from the stash of "maybe useful things". None of the actual light fixture was included in the gift so that had to be purchased. I will take the time to say stringing wire through those skinny arms to where the fake candle was to sit, was no fun. Literally, hours were spent trying to fish a wire through a metal arm that obviously had nooks and crannies along the interior. That just about made me change my mind on this whole project. Once the wires were in place and the whole thing wired into working order, the fun began. I needed to find some sort of "cover" for the wired parts. Not wanting white "candles" (too easy to cut plastic pipe...I had to be difficult), I found that some solar light stakes (from the aforementioned stash) fit perfectly! So...metal stakes were cut to become some really funky "candles". Then...shades! Those lights needed shades! Again, I dug through the stash box and, again, some old solar lights seemed to be perfect for the job. Well...sort of...maybe. This involved using a small rotary saw to cut of the bottom of the light shield so I could turn it upside down to be used as a shade. The shades were made with a stained glass look so they added a bit of charm to the reconstructed lamp.
All that is left is to order some more crystals for the light (what proper chandelier turned table lamp would be barren of crystals?) and stain the wood base that was added to give the light some height. Now, my broken chandelier can glow in all its newfound glory in the midst of dusty old books, antique clocks and some very nice Victorian furniture that I acquired by accident (or on purpose!). I am beginning to think I was born in the wrong era...or perhaps the free spirit in me has finally truly decided to show its face. I know it will not appeal to most others but "most others" can keep their opinions to themselves. Like I said earlier...normal is boring. Personally, I could not be happier! Glow on, revamped light. Cast your sparkles about the place like pixie dust. You are magical.
