Amberlamps: paint 'dems

I wanted specific shapes for lamps in our room, and the uglier the actual lamp, the better!  I found these lamps at the Goodwill on Broadway in the old JCPenny:

$12.95 for the tall one (which ended up being half off that day, so in essence $6.50) and $8.95 for the short one.  Each was covered using less than one total can of primer and spraypaint at $3.

Not World's Ugliest, but close.  I tested them both with a light bulb just to be sure (both worked superbly).  Then I taped off the cords and light bulb attachments, sanded the heck out of the tall one and liquid sandpapered the squatty one.  Turns out there's glass under that speckled mess!  So that took me a little longer than planned (thinking it was plaster).  I highly recommend Krylon spray paint, and was doubly impressed with the satin metallic Nickle I tried for these.

Next was my mission for lamp shades.  Dang but are those expensive!  The cheapest ugly one at Target was 8 bucks! Really?!

So I stopped at the Salvation Army thrift store, didn't see anything, and asked the helpful person at the cash register if they had any individual lamp shades for sale.  He led me to the back room where TONS sat on the shelf, I guess waiting for lamps for them to use them on?  Anyway - I found several that I thought might work for a dollar and twenty cents.  Seriousry.

These are the 2 I chose to work with.  I found the fabric on the sale aisle at Joann's which ended up costing me $3.  One ended up recovered, one actually looked good as is...

Major trial and error going on here, as well as some glue gun burnage.  What price beauty...

Finally, our bedroom is well-lit!  I am so much more than pleased with the results.  I still might cover the big one if I can find a way to work with material where the base of the shade is larger than the top.  I'd also like to find a way to clean up the edges around the covered shade.  But it's a process!  One I am thoroughly enjoying!

Grand total for 2 lamps (1 very large) and 2 shades, one custom?  About $24.  Having yet another spray-painting project?

Priceless.