This Little Light of Mine

Everyone loves a little drama, right?!?  Well, this next post begins with a little drama.  No one really knows who should win this one, but somehow I'm ending up with all the credit.  Remember my parent's beautiful home in the mountains?  (If not, go to the original post here).  Look closely at the kitchen and you will see that there is a spot for a hanging light over the sink, but it is missing the perfect light.

Mom looked at a variety of lighting stores, shopped in magazines, and even brought a few to the cabin to try them out.  She just could not find the perfect light. She wanted something that had a "cabin feel" minus the typical antler/forest animal theme. She wanted something rustic, yet classic. And then it hit them... (cue the Days of our Lives theme song). Well... it hit one of them... Mom says that it was her idea, and Dad claims that he was the genius behind this one.  Wouldn't it be cool to drill a hole in the bottom of a colander, connect it to a light kit, and hang it over the sink?  Genius.  It doesn't matter whose idea it was.

For Mom and Dad's kitchen, they found an old colander in the basement that had the perfect combination of cream and brown to match the cabinets.  For our D and D project, we went a little colander crazy and bought the following colanders (new and old) at a variety of stores.

We started with the cute blue one in the front.  We used a Sharpie to trace the size of the bulb connector from the light kit.

 

Thanks for the demo, Dad!  Then we Dad used a drill to cut the metal.  (He always gets to use the fun power tools!) 

Then he and Mr. Dump used a file (not a nail file - this one is for metal) to make a perfect circle for the connector.  If you are trying this at home, be VERY careful!  The edges are extremely sharp. 

I spent most of my time watching and cheering them on!  (Please ignore the messy hair and no makeup... At least I showered that morning!)

When the hole was the perfect size, we attached it to the light kit that we bought from Lowe's Home Improvement. 

Then we had to try them all out!  (I didn't take pictures of all of them!)

They look even better at night! I love how the light shines through all of the little holes! 

This project is fun, different, and can be done in very little time!  I have already started thinking about other items that I can use for lights!  Pretty much anything that can have a hole drilled in the top/bottom would be perfect for a project like this!  Now two of our colanders are patiently waiting in The Sleepy Poet to find their perfect home.

Happy Junkin'!

Sarah

You Say Tomato, I Say TO-DIE-FOR!

I am ashamed.  It has been 70 LONG days since my last post.  70 LONG days of fourth graders sucking every ounce energy out of my body.  70 LONG days of longing to pursue this passion that I have missed so much.  In other words, adjusting to my full time job and my full time hobby has been a bit of a struggle.  The children of our future have taken precedence over Dumped and Discovered (isn't that the way it should be?!?). Sure there has been the occasional yard sale and a couple afternoons of painting, but I have not been able to commit like I did this summer.  After a very frustrating day at school, I decided that I needed a little more balance in my life.  I put the stack of papers aside and grabbed the computer.  Balance.  I bet it is something that we all strive for.  Why is it so difficult to find balance in life?  Instead of beating myself up about not being able to commit to Dumped and Discovered, I decided that my goals moving forward needed a bit more balance.  Instead of a "project a day" like I was able to maintain this summer, my new goal is a "project a week" for my fabulous followers.

Soooo... Get ready for a big one!!!  Remember this hutch?  We bought it at an auction (click here to see the original post) for $25.00!  It was one of the hottest days in Charlotte and almost everyone was gone when it was time to bid on the furniture.  (Lucky us!)  We debated for a long time about what color to paint this beauty. 

We decided that red would be a fun color for a kitchen, so we went to Lowe's to pick out the perfect red.   On the way to the paint chips we glanced over at the mis-tints (of course!) and there it was.  The Perfect Red!  In fact, The Perfect Tomato Red.  And the best part??  It was only $5.00!!!

While Mr. Dump painted, I sanded (and sanded, and sanded) the top of the buffet.  I wanted to stain it a dark color to break up the red. 

I added a walnut stain from Minwax and applied Polycrylic when it was dry.  Here is the fabulous after:

I forgot to take an "official" after picture before we took it into The Sleepy Poet!  Please ignore the price tags that are hanging down on the top. 

Also, check out the "Sold" tag on the blue enamel top table!  Yippee!!  To give you a little preview of what is coming in my next post, (I promise I'm going to write it within the next 7 days... NOT 70!) take a close look at this picture.  You will see an incredible project next week!  Thanks so much for sticking by me during this busy time. 

Happy Junkin'!

Sarah