Gold Leaf Lamp (How to Gold Leaf Awesome)

I have been wanting to gold leaf something for a while. It just always seemed so awesome.

I really love the idea of mixing gold leaf with matte finishes.

This old lamp was FREE because some guy was just cleaning out his garage. I thought it was a garage sale, so I made my boyfriend pull over (he LOVES it when I do that).

This is what the free lamp looked like.

First, I sprayed it yellow. I always meant to change the lampshade, but never got around to it.

That is, until I decide to gold leaf this thing! Then, I went to Walmart and got this lamp shade for just $13.

This is the lamp after I first sprayed it yellow. Ugly lamp shade, but it was free… so yeah…

I bought the gold leaf kit for around $10 on Amazon. It includes the gold leaf, the adhesive, and also the sealer.

First, I sprayed the lamp a matte white (after taping off the cord and the electrical socket). I love the look of matte finishes with metallics. The contrast is great.

Second, I taped off the stripes that I wanted. I used two different widths of painter’s tape (which is why some stripes are beige and some stripes are blue).

Use tape to mark off the parts you don’t want painted.

Then, I applied the adhesive lightly with a sponge applicator. Let it dry for about 15 minutes, and start applying the gold leaf. If you miss any spots, it’s OK. You can come back and fill it in by adding more adhesive and more gold leaf.  You basically just put the gold leaf directly on the adhesive and rub it with a brush or your finger to make sure it’s stuck down well.

The lines aren’t perfect, but that’s OK.

Finished! The light in the photo isn’t great, but the lamp came out awesome.

The stripes are not perfect. Gold leaf is not really a tidy adventure, but from a far, you cannot really see the less-than-perfect parts.

The gold leaf instructions say that you should seal it, but I figure the lamp won’t get man-handled too much, so I skipped that step. If I was doing something that would get more touching, I would definitely seal it.

I love how it all turned out. It only cost me a lamp shade and a gold leaf kit (I have most of the kit left too, so I am like Midas – constantly looking for more things to turn gold).

Gold stripes and matte white finish.

What else can I gold leaf?

What do you think? Do you guys freaking love gold as much as this girl?

Golden love,

Rachel

Roses, Teal and Brass: How to Personalize A Lamp

Anthropology, eat your heart out.  You would sell the shade for $98. It cost me $2 to make. You would sell the base for, let’s say, a reasonable $118. It cost me $6 at a rummage sale. And, with my lamp shade, I get the pleasure of knowing that I made it.

Roses, Teal and Brass Lamp

This was one of those projects that I didn’t exactly plan out. I was bored one night, trying to figure out a good craft project that I could do while watching a movie. When you spend all day reading and doing econ homework, sometimes (often?) you just need something to watch and  a project that makes you remember that you can use your hands for things other than taking notes and punching dumb numbers into a scientific calculator.

Teal, aqua and white: the three little bears of color.

I find making things with my hands so unbelievably therapeutic. And, there are two benefits from making things with your hands: 1. The therapy part makes you feel better. And 2. You get the cutest little lamp to grace your bedside table for less than $10.

This brings me to my apology for the posting hiatus – school has been crazy busy lately. I managed to find the time to do the project, but not the time to post it. And I am still having broken camera drama. Sigh.

Anyway, Here’s how I did it: