Perfecting Nail Head Trim

I don't know if you all noticed, but some of trim was crooked on my headboard.

I bothered me- a lot. Pretty much kept me from loving the project 100 percent. But it IS totally fixable, that is if Joann's would keep their trim stocked!!! I bought trim for the THIRD time to get this project perfect.

Here is my before-remember my excitement with the finally, finally finished headboard?
Well, day after day, these areas were all I could focus on.

 Thankfully, fixing it is not all that difficult.

To fix the trim what you want to do is grab the nail head with you needle nose pliers like this:

See how I'm holding the pliers on top of the strip- so the tips of the pliers are NOT touching the fabric? This is key to protecting it from damage. You can actually pull or wiggle out the nail heads but the top of the nail will probably be damaged. Can you see it on this photo?

So after the tacks that were securing the crooked portion of your line are pulled out will will be able to move the strip into the correct place. To do this push down with the foam and fabric in one hand and move the trim to where it needs to be then secure it with new nail heads.

Easy fix and it looks so much better!

Too bad I was too lazy to make my bed and take all the pics over. Aah!
At least it's finally finished....for real this time!

Thanks for taking a look!

 - Becca -

Linked up at these great PARTIES!
and more specifically here and here. 

Cleaning Thirft Store Lampshades

Today's post is featuring adventures in decontaminating cleaning thrift store lampshades! I have been sitting on several lamps that need major makeovers- but the weather is REFUSING to COOPERATE! 

I haven't been able to spray paint a thing for a WEEK!

Since I plan to remake several lamps, for two of them I thought it would be interesting to buy thrift store lampshades and try to clean them. I found some fabric lampshades to go with the bases. One looks pretty cheap- like a Walmart shade or something, and the other is a Restoration Hardware find, yay!. They both have visible stains/dirt and I can recover them if need be- but wanted to explore cleaning methods first.

HOW TO

1.] To clean a lampshade you should start with vacuuming it or wiping it with a dry cloth. Since these shades were visibly dirty I skipped the first choice and started with the next safest for fabric.

2.] You can mix some water and dish washing detergent in a 1:4 ratio with an egg beater until foam forms.  FYI- If your shade is silk the Internet says only to use Dreft or Ivory Snow, not dish soap. Apply foam to the whole shade and wipe with a clean cloth. If you only wet part there may be some fabric discoloration. This method is perfect for delicate materials and for shades that have glued on trim which will not hold up to water.

This probably would have worked for a shade that is lightly soiled. Something that hasn't been dusted regularly (or ever like my home!) and maybe some of the dust has ingrained into the fabric. If that method doesn't work you want to go extreme!

3.] Fill the bathtub with water and some dish soap and DUNK the shade making sure it is fully submerged each time. Don't leave the shade in the water! Pull it out and use a cloth to work the soap into the shade, especially any stains! You can then hang it to dry on the shower rod.

I washed the Restoration Hardware shade first and my experience was that this shade held up to the water well. It could easily withstand the washing. I dunked it quite a few times and worked soapy water all over the fabric. It turned out looking pretty good.

The cheaper shade had a much lower water tolerance. I dunked it about the same amount of times and then tried to scrub it but it had pulled in too much water too quickly. I let it sit to dry out but it was too far gone and the form was ruined. I would suggest scrubbing the highly soiled areas and then dunking the shade only once or at most twice if it's of a poorer quality.

So, umm-you can see the results for yourself. Here's an updated image of the lampshade today- if you want to know how to recover a lampshade, check it out! Hope this helps you guys!

- Becca
  Linked up here.

✥ Z Gallerie Lamp Knock Off ✥

While thrifting the other day I came across the awesome brass lamp. 

It weighs like 5 pound and has the most GORGEOUS shape!!

I've been obsessed with getting it painted because I knew it would be A. Mazing!

I was a little nervous about the paste/concrete-ish grey stuff (underneath the plastic part of the lamp). It must've been broken at some time, but it seemed very sturdy and I was not letting this one get away.

By the way, I looked up the brand of the lamp- Artesanata made in Portugal. I couldn't find any info online but it doesn't feel cheap. Any info out there in Blogland? Hopefully I'm not painting a priceless antique!

source

 I used two coats of primer for metals and as really impressed with how well it adhered to the base. Then two more coats of spray paint- this time a can I found at Michaels' on sale for 59 cents!

Here's my inspiration-

A real beaut from Z Gallerie.

Their version $139.

My version $25.

Here it is in it's new home. Let me know what you guys think!

Update: Check out these fantastic blogs who liked my Lamp Redo!

Looking for places to link up your projects? Check out my Party page.

I'm also linked up here.