DIY Project - Lamp Makeover

 

It's been about 2 years since we had 2 of these Ikea Lamps in our living room. Suddenly, it started growing on me that its plain jane! Hence, I took over the lamp this weekend to make it better looking, while not really flashy, but a bit more classic!

Things required to make over this lamp - 

1. Thick decorative paper   2. Glue gun   3. Ruler, Scissors  4. Bronze Paint   5. Primer  6. Lace / Trim

1. Begin with the lamp shade. Wrap the paper around. Set the glue gun to lower heat setting and glue the paper to lamp shade. It takes only 15 seconds before the glue dries, so make sure not to exceed the time. Make sure to leave the overlapping part thin. Once the paper is wrapped, glue the trim.                                                                                                                              
2. For the Base - for any smooth finished metallic surface, it is important to apply the primer. I used a water based primer and applied only 1 coat of it. Wait for 30 minutes, some primers may take 24 hours to dry, so make sure to check the instructions on the label.
3. Apply the paint, using nicely dipped brushes and long strokes. Ladies (or gentlemen), if you know how to apply nail polish, this should be fairly easy! I left the painted lamp base to dry overnight. 

 

And that's it, lamp makeover is complete. I am hopeful, that I can use water and wash away the paint, whenever, I am bored of this again. The next time, I am going to make the lamp shade myself. 

                                       
                                           

Road Trip in Appalachians

Great Smoky Mountain National Park is the most visited national park in USA. Nested in the Appalachians, Smokies cover a major portion of states of Tennessee and North Carolina, although in the northern part of NC, it is called the blue ridge parkway. 

The road trip in Smokies is best experienced from months April to November, with the peak of beauty-factor witnessed around fall season. Among the thousands of attractions that this park has to offer, people can pick attractions per their taste and make an unforgettable memoir. In this post, I am sharing a sample itinerary which we wanted to undertake. While we did not visit all the things mentioned below, we did see other beautiful things and those will be covered in the upcoming posts.

Our trip was a round one from Columbus. None of the distances listed here are more than 6 hours, at a stretch. So this is a trip that can be done over a long weekend, like we did!

Day 0 – Columbus to Knoxville, TN
              a.    Distance – 345 miles, Time – 5 hours approximately.
              b.    Stay overnight

Day 1 – Knoxville - Great Smoky Mountains National Park (Distance – 35 miles)
              
              Things to see in Smokies –
              a.  Rainbow falls in Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail
              b.   Drive on the tail of the dragon road
              c.    Cades Cove drive (Abram falls)
              d.   Clingmans Dome
              e.    Waterrock Knob (MP 451)
           
              Overnight stay at Asheville, NC and leave on Sunday.

Day 2 – From Ashville, NC  to Snowshoe, WV

              a.       Folk art centre in Ashville

              b.      Drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway

                    i.      Mabry Mill (266 Mabry Mill Rd SE, Milepost 176, Meadows of Dan, VA 24120)

                    ii.    Poor farmer's market

                    iii.      McAfee Knob

              

                    Overnight stay in Mountain top resort, Snowshoe, WV.

Day 3 - From Snowshoe, WV to Columbus, OH
             a.       Shavers trail
             b.      Black waterfalls state park, Davis WV. (2.5 hours from Snowshoe village)

Davis is about 2 hours away from Pittsburgh, so for foodies, it's a great stop for grabbing meal.

And that's the end of the trip.
Detailed trip coming soon.

Appalachians serve to the taste of many hobbyists, like bird / wild life watchers, photographer, day tourists, hikers and dreamers. And there is no better way to experience it more than the Great Smokies!