My man and I are currently redesigning our living space. Not by choice, but by necessity. Everything that enters our home must meet strict design requirements. Namely, it must be puppy proof or suspended from the ceiling. (sigh)
Our oversized puppy has struck once more! The little darling has chewed through two legs of our dining room table, eaten the baseboards and demolished my once pretty little storage cabinet. Apparently, the goofy girl is part beaver. Sheesh! I love this dog, but she can certainly push her luck! And my patience!
This situation called for immediate action. Or, as we like to call it, a family pow-wow. We determined that our first priority was to replace our dining table. The chewed up table and cabinet were sent to the curb and quickly picked up by some industrious person. Next came a trip to IKEA which brought all sorts of ideas for new indoor decor. While at IKEA, we found a nifty little table with metal (aka, chew proof) legs. We loved it and brought the little cutie home. The new table will not replace our dining table exactly, but will provide a place for game play and school work. Two key activities in our home. A replacement for the full dining table is still in the works.
Considering the table will be used for school work and playing games, proper lighting is important. However, our over-sized, super excited puppy creates challenges when it comes to home furnishings. Thankfully, I love a challenge!
While my man and I were brainstorming possible solutions for lighting, my teen decided to do a little idea generation of his own. That genius boy of mine searched for and found a clever idea; a Magic the Gathering (MTG) game lamp. He showed me a picture of a lamp he wanted which was made with MTG cards. I thought this was a very clever idea and got busy strategizing my own version of this nifty lamp.
I am a frugal girl so I started searching our house for a possible lampshade frame. After all, I see no reason to buy a lampshade just for the frame. While I couldn't find anything I wanted to use within our house, I did find something outside. Tucked away in the garden was an old tomato cage. The frame was in reasonably good condition but was both the wrong size and color.
Changing the size of the frame could not have been easier. A few snips with the wire cutters created the perfect size for a frame. Changing colors was just as easy to fix, I simply wrapped the previously green frame with black electrical tape. All that was left was to determine how to suspend the cards from the frame in a decorative fashion. I decided to use inexpensive jewelry findings I found in the clearance aisle at Joann's Fabric and Craft.
A hole punch, pair of pliers and a little bit of patience were all that was needed to complete my boy's Magic Lamp. I am rather tickled with the result. Especially once I added a little sparkle to the bottom of the shade with a few glass beads. He gets his magic and I get my sparkles; a perfect combination.
While there won't be any genies popping out of this magic lamp, I did have a wish fulfilled. My boy came up with a creative solution which provided us an opportunity to dream together. Life doesn't get any better than that!!
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