USING WHAT YOU HAVE!

Hubby's office was in need of a lamp and I was not finding  one that I liked in stores, then (no pun intended) the light bulb went off in my head and I realized that there was an item in the garage that would work great to make into a lamp.  Hubby was a gifted athlete in both high school and college and is a very modest man so all of his trophies, etc. have long since been tossed but for some reason this trophy has been with us as long as there has been an us - maybe because it was the Frank Gifford sportsmanship award from a long ago bowl game. It was before my time with him so my memory of this trophy is always seeing it in the garage in a box - forever.

To get started all I did was wipe it down - it is brass and if I wanted to polish it it would come back to a very shiny patina which I did not want - I happen to like the aged darker look. Personal preference.

The conversion kit comes in different colors and we chose antique brass.  The cover plate is a separate purchase and depending on what you are using to make a lamp may have to be modified.  In our case the sides were crimped and some extra holes drilled into the brass (for screws) so that it would both fit and stay put on the top of the trophy. This project was definitely a two person project, if you get my drift.

Next the trophy was taken apart and a hole drilled in the bottom so that the cord could be threaded up through the trophy, add the harp and finial and finally the light bulb and you are ready to plug it in and see if it works.

After checking to make sure there was light and everything was secure - time for the shade.

Topped off with a nice burlap lamp shade - this is how it looks with the light off.

Let there be light!  Now hubby has a lamp beside his favorite leather chair in his man cave.  The last thing he will do is spend about $20 on an outlet plug that comes with a remote control so that the lamp can be turned on/off remotely. Now we have a "new" lamp and a memory of a good sport one afternoon in 1960.

Resource

Trophy for lamp, attics, garages, garage sales, thrift stores
Socket lamp kit, hardware and lamp stores and online
Lampshade, Hobby Lobby (half off last week)
Light remote control, Woods 13569 Indoor Wireless Remote Control (3-Pack)


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