Making A Lamp...

[Ribbit]

I am about to buy an antique figurine - lovely Chinese lady - and I want to make a lamp. Not the type where you drill a hole in her head and feed a wire through - I am no brain surgeon. :blink:

I want to stand her on a base and have a metal pole at the back, with the fitting and a shade sitting on top of the pole. Did that make sense? I am so technical sometimes that I impress myself. :lol:

But where do I get the base? The pole? I am not electrically minded (I don't have to plug myself in when I want to think :lol: ... I won't give up my day job)

I need help (don't say a word! :lol: )

Mrs P http://www.boiledsprouts.com/ratgrin.gif

[er 59]

hi phoenix
im useless at arts and crafts my ideas look brill in my imagination but the finished product usually looks like a blue peter effort :blink:
to be honest i would look for a lamp that someone else took the trouble to make with a base big enough to sit the figurine on ;)
failing that some arts and craft shops sell lamp bases but they tend to be mainly wooden ones
good luck :)

[Eeyore]

Hi Mrs P

I'm no arty person at all, sorry ;) But have you tried looking in the library maybe for art and craft books :D They sometimes have some excellent ideas on how to turn things into other things, and I remember years ago reading one which had a bit on making lamps

How about making a box style base to put your figure on top of, the box will hide any electricals and fixings and should be fairly simple to make :)

[sp54]

Hi Phoenix,
The only 'lamp' I've ever made was sticking a candle in an empty Mateus Rose bottle in the 70's :hihi: :lol:

But seriously, I do actually do certain crafts, and I would recommend you have a look at some of the excellent craft magazines available. They give you loads of shops, mostly online, that sell the various materials needed for all sorts of craftwork. You could try looking at the Hobbycraft website, but in my experience of all things 'crafty' you probably need a more specialised shop.

Sorry I can't be more help, but I would definitely start with one of the craft mags :thumbs:

[smoo22]

I once bought an old wooden lamp from charity shop - my husband is a joiner and he made a nice square wooden base to replace the broken one that was on it - and also big enough to put one of my fave ornaments on it to hide the stem, fittings etc - lot less hassle than starting from scratch, and if you know any joiners (or maybe send it to local school woodwork class, see what you end up with!!) :D