Monday, December 15, 2008

Our new lamp

This is a lantern Chad and I found at a junk store on our way hiking one day. I thought it looked so interesting, and thought it had some potential.
We looked it up on the internet and found out it was a carriage lamp for a horse drawn carriage. It probably housed a candle, or a kerosene lamp, but there's obvious marks that show where they tried to convert it to DC power. The rusted wires were still inside. So, we brainstormed about it and decided to try and get it back to its origin and turn it into a lamp. Then, it sat in our garage for a while, and I then moved it to the ledge in our kitchen.











Then, this past Saturday, Chad and I exchanged Christmas presents (b/c we'll be traveling with family for the next week and a half) and Chad gave me a couple of components, which at first, I had no idea what they were....and then I realized, he'd given me what we needed to make our lamp! hooray! So, here are some pictures of the process and finished product. We simply added a wooden base, the lamp mechanism, and a flicker light bulb. We had a little trouble at first...trying to route the original base and shape it to size. After that base broke, we made a trip to Hobby Lobby and bought some replacement parts and whipped the lamp together in a matter of a few minutes! The best part is, that we didn't have to compromise the lamp's original structure at all to make the new lamp!











3 comments:

smithfamily said...

That lamp is the coolest! I love it! Thanks for commenting on my blog... I hope you guys have a fabulous holiday season and I miss you. I may try a trip up in Jan. I'll let you know.

Robert and Carmen said...

Chad is so creative in his gifts. That is a cool lamp. Have a Merry Christmas! We'll keep everyone posted. Love, Carmen

Brooke said...

That is awesome - I love all the refurbishing stories that you guys share! Now - the real question is how many new tools did Chad get to buy in the process of making the lamp haha?