Trash to treasure: CHEAP diy vintage square lamp project

So my wonderful husband found this old vintage (and broken) lamp. He replaced the bulb, tighted the screws and added a string for the switch. But then we were left with this ugly yellow light.

So I thought to myself, how can I make this gorgeous? I actually spent NO money fixing up this project, because I have random craft supplies around ALL the time. But here is what I used:

SAX watercolor (from concentrate) (I picked only three colors that complimented my house)

Blue spray paint

Whit craft acrylic paint

Hole punch

Tape and plastic bag for covering electric parts

So this is another BEFORE shot. It's a cute little vintage lamp. But it was just so brown! And for those that know me, I love color!

If I owned a fancy hole punch, then I would have used it. But alas I didn't. So I pulled out a basic hole punch and had fun making little patterns in the wax paper lamp shade.

Then I started to stain the lampshade with a set of colors that I love. I blended dark blue, purple and aqua! I just painted it on and then wiped off the access with a towel.

Even my five year old got to participate in the craft. She loved mixing the colors together. And it was great because there wasn't a right or wrong way to do it.

so this is what the shade looked like after it was dry.. I LOVED the look.

Then I prepped the wood for painting. I covered the chord and removed all hardware that I could. I covered the bulb with a cup and taped everything up. Then I actually spray painted the whole thing. (I guess I could have sanded it first. But I wanted a certain look. After the spray painted dried, thenI painted it with White acrylic paint.

so this is want it looked like after I painted it. I really like the detail of the "crackle" effect that happened from putting acrylic paint over the spray paint. (and the color that came through was blue, very cool)

I'm really proud of the "AFTER" shot! I love this lamp now!

Happy Crafting!