Post #461828 by Unkle John on Mon, Jun 15, 2009 9:53 AM

Awesome lamp!

I picked up a 70's swag lamp at a thrift store for a song, but I mainly wanted it because the globe was round and perfect for my project. I then picked up a cotton basketball net and a new swag lamp kit. I was originally going to wrap the top part of the lamp (that held the socket)with a similar rope. Now as I write this I realize that I didn't do a step, but it's not crucial, I can dismantle the lamp and do this: stain the rope. I was thinking of a tea stain to give the rope a used and dirty look. Well, my project just sat on the side and after I constructed it, I realized that it just didn't look right. Then one night at Trader Vic's I spied this lamp (with the raffia shade):

So with some left over grass railing skirt wrapped around the top, I came up with this.

And here is one with the flash so you can see how the globe topper is wrapped. I uses twisty ties to secure them. I also have a 40w CFL in it, I think it gets too bright so I might switch down to a lower watt.

I don't think it's perfect just yet, I think I can wrap the grass skirt better and maybe add another "ring" around it to see if that thickens up the shade. But you get the jist and see that it's easy to make a false globe float lamp. It depends on the make of the glass (mine is wavy) but if you get a clear enough globe (and big enough around) you could possibly put a puffer lamp inside. I thought about frosting it. It's easy to take a part if I want to do that. I have been thinking of a puffer, but worried that it won't be visible enough inside to tell what it is.