This little light of mine...

DIY Lamp Makeover

My dining room does not have enough light and I was looking for a pair of lamps to go on a console table. I bought these lamps at my local Marshall's Home Goods Store not because of their looks, but for their potential...and price!

I couldn't decide what to do with them..paint them white and get a fabric shade or paint them a fun color and a plain shade, so I just left them alone until inspiration struck.

Enter inspiration.

$2700 Green reverse painted glass with original gold details. New custom gold paper shade and gold ball finial. These came from the cute store, Pieces, located in Atlanta.

Too bad I don't have $2700 just sitting around to spend on lamps. But I did love the style of these and the color which goes well with the antique fern prints I have hanging in the dining room.

So let's start the transformation!

1.) Take ugly shade and finial off and cover exposed hardware and cord.

2.) Spray with primer.

3.) First I painted them with a green I thought I would like better than the lighter green of the glass lamps.

4.) I kept looking at the picture of the glass lamps then back at mine and was just not satisfied...so I went to the paint store and bought a lighter green and repainted the lamps before the sun went down.

5.) I let the lamps dry overnight. Then wrapped up the lamps except for the bottom to paint the bottom so it looks like there is a gold base.

6.) Then added the other gold details (it was a pain in the A$$!).

7.) And.....done!

8.) Materials used.

Now I just need to find a gold lamp shade...or maybe a white one. I will post picks when it's all put together!

$2700 v. $73

(i win)

Sneak Peeks!

Here are some sneak peeks of some upcoming projects!

Ugly lamp base color...but what a great shape!

Updating some "girlie" furniture...

More mirror projects!

Greek Key trim...

More pics to come soon!

BBQ...Even when it's bad, it's good!

I know, I know...you have seen more recipes than decorating lately! But I promise, I've got some great posts in the works...just waiting on the final touches.

So I just got back from visiting the BF in KC for a week..and it was great! We both love to eat and boy did we! Kansas City is known for their BBQ, specifically it's pork. So the two Texans headed from Missouri into Kansas to Oklahoma Joe's. Oklahoma Joe's is actually housed in a gas station and you could easily drive right past it, if you didn't know where you were going (we had GPS!). Well, we thought we could just walk right up to the counter and order our food........

......not so much!

We opened the door and took 1 step and we found ourselves at the end of the line already, so we thought! It was like those lines at amusement parks where it looks short, but then you see it snake around the entire place! As we made our way to the actual end of the line we asked people if this was normal and we got the same reply, "Yes, but the line moves fast." We debated about staying in line, but our stomachs didn't like that idea, so we called our order in and 30 minutes later we were on our way. I noticed the people in front of us in the line still had not made it to the counter when I picked up my order!

Hands down, best pulled pork sandwich! Ribs weren't anything special...but the pork, SO tender and flavorful! We also enjoyed traditional sides like potato salad, cole slaw, and beans (which were like a combo of baked beans and ranch style, yum!). I wasn't going to attempt to share a pulled port recipe, it just wouldn't compare and it seems like everyone has a recipe for ribs, so here's a simple delicious recipe for Texan baked beans - the sweet kind!

Locally brewed beer - Boulevard (tasty!)

Texan Baked Beans

Ingredients

• 32 oz. can of Pork and Beans
• 1/2 onion, sliced thinly
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 6 Tsp. mustard
• 3/4 cup ketchup
• 4 strips of bacon

Directions

1.) Put beans in 9x12 baking dish

2.) Add onions, brown sugar, mustard, and ketchup and stir until well mixd

3.) Place bacon strips across the top

4.) Bake at 350 degrees for 1.5 hours. (Bacon should be crisp on the edges.)

Serves 6

These are the other great places where we dined (er, pigged out!).

Grinders - fantastic Philly Cheese Steak!

Grinders West - right next door, great salads and sandwiches

Mama's - Classic Deli/Diner - How did I miss the deep fried french toast?!