Light Up Your Life Candlestick Lamp

You don't need to be a professional electrician to make your own candlestick lamp. With a bottle adapter lamp kit from the hardware store, all that's left for you to do is find the perfect flea market candlestick and follow these simple instructions. In minutes, you'll have a working candlestick lamp. To embellish the lampshade for your boudoir, choose an ornate rubber stamp, a paint color that complements your candlestick, and glitzy beaded fringe. With the flick of a switch, you'll be reading by "candle light."

To make the lamp, you will need:
candlestick, 8 inches tall (made for a taper candle with a 5/8-inch to one-inch diameter)
bottle adapter "Make-a-Lamp" kit
light bulb
screwdriver
rubber bands

To embellish the lampshade, you will need:
white clip lampshade (clip attaches to the bulb), 7 inches tall, 9-inch diameter at bottom
metallic silver acrylic paint, 2 fl. oz.
squeeze bottle of iridescent glitter paint, 2 fl. oz.
rubberstamp, 4 inches across
crystal beaded fringe, 29 inches long
hot glue gun
hot glue

How To Assemble The Lamp:
Step 1
Select the rubber adapter from the bottle adapter "Make-a-Lamp" kit that fits the candlestick opening. Slide the adapter all the way onto one end of the threaded pipe.

Step 2
Screw the socket bottom onto the threaded pipe.

Step 3
Tighten the side screw with a screwdriver.

Step 4
Feed the loose-wire end of the electrical cord through the hole in the side of the socket bottom. 

Step 5
Pull the cord apart to create some slack, then tie the ends in a knot. This will keep the cord from pulling out of the socket cap.

Step 6
Connect the neutral wire to the silver screw (the rubber insulation on the neutral wire is ribbed) and tighten with a screwdriver. 

Step 7
Connect the other wire to the brass screw and tighten with a screwdriver. Make sure the brass tips of the wires are secured under the screw heads.

Step 8
Slide the brass shell with the paper liner over the lamp socket. Snap the brass shell onto the socket bottom and rock it into place until it clicks.

Tight Light: If the rubber adapter feels a little loose in the candlestick, make a tighter fit by wrapping the adapter with a rubber band or two.

How To Embellish The Lampshade:
Step 1
Using the rubber stamp and the silver acrylic paint, stamp the image four times around the bottom edge of the lampshade. (For even spacing, stamp on one side, then turn the shade 180 degrees, and stamp again opposite the first image. Then repeat between the two stamped images.) Turn the rubber stamp upside-down and stamp around the top edge of the lampshade four times between the bottom stamped images.

Step 2
When the paint is dry, trace the edges of each stamped image with the squeeze bottle of iridescent glitter paint.

Step 3
When the glitter paint is dry, hot glue the beaded fringe around the bottom edge of the lampshade. To finish off your lamp, insert the lamp fixture into the candlestick, screw in a light bulb and attach the lampshade to the bulb. Then light up the night!

Keep It Clean: For a cleaner stamped image, dab the paint directly onto the rubber stamp. Try a few test stamps on a scrap piece of paper until you get the hang of it.

Perfect Pair
For twice the fun, buy a pair of candlesticks and turn them into matching lamps for your bedside tables.

Bedazzled Jean Jacket

Turn a blue jean jacket into a mighty-fine one-of-a-kind with rubber stamps, acrylic paint, and rhinestones galore!

YOU'LL NEED:
Blue jean jacket
Rubberstamp alphabet
Heart stamps in 3 sizes
Acrylic paints: red, lime, and yellow
Red rhinestones, 8mm, approximately 150
Gold rhinestones, 8mm, approximately 45
Gold rhinestones, 6mm, approximately 60
Blue rhinestones, 6mm, 20
Clear rhinestones, 6mm, 18
Tacky craft glue
Paper plates
Cardboard
Cups
Foam brushes
Tarp

WHAT TO DO:
Step One
Lay out your blue jean jacket on a tarp with the back facing up. Place a piece of cardboard underneath the jacket in case the paint bleeds through.

Step Two
Squeeze the lime acrylic paint onto a paper plate, dampen a foam brush, and carefully dab the paint onto the largest heart rubberstamp. Stamp the heart in the center of the jacket and let dry. Use the same technique to stamp the medium-sized heart in yellow and the smallest heart in red. Be sure to let the paint dry completely before stamping the next image.

Step Three
Dab the red paint onto the letter "A" and stamp it above the center of the heart. Then dab and stamp the rest of the letters on either side of the "A" to spell out H-E-A-R-T. Repeat to stamp the word B-R-E-A-K-E-R underneath the heart.

Step Four
When all the paint is dry, apply the red rhinestones to the letters with little dabs of tacky craft glue. (The glue will dry clear.) Then embellish the concentric hearts by outlining the lime heart with the 8mm gold rhinestones, the yellow heart with the 6mm gold rhinestones, and the red heart with the rest of the red rhinestones. For extra bling, outline the outside edge of the lime heart with the blue rhinestones, and finish it off with a scattering of clear rhinestones.

Sharp Shooter: It's no fun watching paint dry, so use a blow dryer to speed up the drying process.

Star-Spangled Placemats

This Fourth of July set a stellar table with star-stamped placemats.

Jazz up simple bamboo placemats with handmade cork stamps. Just cut large stars out of cork wall tiles and mount them on scraps of plywood. Then start stamping! Whether you need four or forty, these placemats are fast and fabulous.


WHAT YOU'LL NEED
(to make 4 placemats)
4 bamboo placemats
2 cork wall tiles, 12"x12" (available at office supply stores)
¼" thick plywood square, 10"x10"
¼" thick plywood square, 6"x6"
Wood glue
White chalk
X-Acto knife
Masking tape
FolkArt craft paint, Cardinal Red, 2 fluid ounces
Small foam paintbrush
Paper plate
Newspaper


Step One
To make the large star stamp, draw a 9-inch star on a cork tile with chalk. For the small star stamp, draw a 5-inch star on a cork tile with chalk. Carefully cut the stars with the X-Acto knife. Glue each cork star rough-side down onto the corresponding plywood square with the wood glue. Weigh down the stamps with books and let cure for 30 minutes.

Step Two
If the bamboo placemats have fabric trim on the edges, cover the fabric with masking tape. Protect your work surface with newspaper and squeeze the red craft paint onto a paper plate. Use the foam brush to dab the paint onto the surface of the large star stamp.

Step Three
Immediately stamp the bamboo placemat with the large star stamp over the lower right-hand corner, so part of the design runs off the edge. Repeat with the small and large stamps to create the three-star design. Use the same technique to stamp all four placemats, alternating the stars for an artsy look.

Land of the Free: For small pieces of plywood, find the scrap pile at your home improvement store. Be sure to ask, but usually the little pieces are free!