So this past weekend I was thinking it would be nice to have a lamp with a steam punk theme. I went online and looked around and I just couldn't see myself spending 100.00 dollars or more on one. Many are handmade and very creative. They are all kinds with clock faces, dials, gears and pipes.
I wondered maybe I can make one??
So, I was at Tuesday Morning and found this gear type candle stick. Its pretty heavy and very realistic with the gears on the base and on the top section. It was on sale for 7.00 so I brought it home.
I looked around and these pics are what I came up with in the end product.
I have several charms, gears, beads all strategically placed with glue onto a wired sphere I had in my garage. I have two of these wired spheres and they originally were for garden decor. The sphere has three butterflies extended by wire to imply they are flying around the sphere. I place gears and time clock faces on the wings. The detail is hard to capture in these photos, but its quite layered with pieces.
As you can see I kind a stayed monochromatic with my bead colors. I like the whimsy of the black and white spirals (like candy), and the other smaller beads are also either solid white or solid black with tiny crystals for reflectiveness.
At the top of the sphere I even placed a wooden knob that I painted black to appear as a lamp topper. It kinda looks like a top hat now that I think about it. Once I was done with adding all the charms and such, I then wanted to add lights. I have several mini lights that I use throughout the year for celebration decor. See below for lighted photo.
The photo below is with the sphere mounted on top of the gear candle stick and then lights attached (battery operated) and turned on. I carefully tied down the lights, I tried to place them to minimize the exposure of the wire from the light. At the top you can see the butterflies each have a light as well. The light strand is pretty easy to work with and very malleable, so I think it turned out OK.
Here are some closeup shots of the sphere so you can see more detail. It only took me a couple hours to pull this piece together. I'm pretty happy with it. Its small enough to not take over the display table and yet large enough to makes its presence known.
I made the light/lamp to compliment my display area for my pendants. Along that thought, I also made display trays to hold the pendants. I found these boxes, sold as a single box, one piece is the top and the other is the bottom of the box. Also at Tuesday morning, on sale for 8.00 but I bought this a month or so ago and not initially for this idea. But turns out worked out great.
The boxes are rather large, about 17x14. I covered each one with fabric on the inside and the outside.
I then made an enclosure piece that is removable. This piece is made of chipboard, using my card stock and embellishments I created a steam punk type background. The box below has the word TIMELESS spelled out in the center using keyboard letters. I placed gears beneath each letter for dimension and theme. I then used glossy accents to add clear layering effect to each letter. If you notice, the bird in the photo is from the 30inch tree that stands between the two boxes, I found this at Home Goods for 12.00, it has several branches and heights and a couple birds as well. This piece works great for hanging pendants.
The second box in the display has a door theme, with hinges and door latch to boot. I place strips of a coordinated card stock at the top,center and bottom of the page for definition. I placed stamps randomly on the page and I cut out the word in letters to spell IMAGINE. On the right of the page at the end of the center paper strip I added three layers of metal embellishment for the door key hole. Both this box and the first one are resting on iron easels I have at home that I use for various decor. It works better placing them on the easels. I will have to figure a way to secure the boxes to the easels. I will probably use Velcro.
Well that's what I was working on this past weekend. Thanks for looking and I hope this sprouted some ideas of your own.
Take Care.
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