Monday, May 9, 2011

Cake Carrier Lamp

A few weeks ago I posted about my cake carrier lamp I made for my guest room/ studio space. Today I thought I'd show you how I put it all together. Actually it was alarmingly easy ( I say alarming because most of the time my hair brained schemes are a lot more work) 
I found my cake carrier for FREE at a yard sale but I have seen similar things on thrift shops and most certainly ebay.
As badly as I wanted to turn this into a lamp I had a big problem, the inside of the cake carrier is also bright yellow and when I placed it over an exsisting lamp the light it put out could only be described as "Bug Light" yellow, not what I had in mind for a bedside reading lamp. Husband said I should paint the inside, (NO way!) the bright yellow is the best part! I had to come up with another option, so I decided to try making a lamp with 2 lampshades, an inner white one, and my beloved cake carrier top.

Initial I wanted to find a lamp base at a thrift store but I was having trouble finding something that would work for the size of the cake carrier

So I caved and bought this new one on clearance at Target, totally not my style but hey it was only $8!

First thing I did was remove the, ummm...graphic print pattern from the shade as my kitty looked wistfully out the window. 
Her name is Meetu, because her personality as a little sister cat is "Me Too!"
Whoa, tangent!

Anyways, because the shade was 10" tall and I needed it to be 6"  I removed the vinyl, cut a 4" strip off and  hot glued the vinyl shade back onto the wire lamp shade things.

Then I covered the rebuilt lampshade in a light white fabric

 I painted the base of the lamp with the perfectly matching yellow spray paint I already had. How lucky is that?!
then with just a few glue dots i adheared the top of the cake carrier to the top of the lamp shade, clicked on the light and fell in love!

Here you can see the white shade underneath the top of the cake carrier.

since I did not alter the actual carrier I can always dismantle my lamp and still have a vintage cake carrier to use.


And over at Serendipity Chic Designs


Bright Yellow Peace!
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33 comments:

  1. Lucy The ValiantMay 10, 2011 at 5:32 AM

    You are officially a GENIUS! I love this lamp!

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  2. LenaeMay 15, 2011 at 11:25 AM

    Merrilee, what a clever idea! Love it!

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  3. Serendipity Chic DesignMay 16, 2011 at 3:00 PM

    I honestly can't get over how unique this is. And to top it off, I love how eclectic and bright the colors are.

    Thanks for linking to "Meet Me On Monday"

    Take care,
    Lisa

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  4. AmyMay 18, 2011 at 5:29 PM

    LOVE and Adore! this is so amazing! I have got to keep my eye out for one of these vintagy cakey goodness carriers. LOVE it. tremendous. Nice work.

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  5. Yanet @ 3 Sun Kissed BoysMay 18, 2011 at 6:58 PM

    Merrilee, that lamp looks so cute! It looks like something I'd snag at Anthropologie. Great vision and great job!!

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  6. W-S WanderingsMay 18, 2011 at 7:03 PM

    You are BRILLIANT! I love, love, love your lamp, and must now hunt for a vintage cake tin.

    Blessings...

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  7. LyndaMay 18, 2011 at 8:41 PM

    I saw this featured over at Under the Table and Dreaming and just had to come by for a visit. Your cake carrier/lamp shade is wonderful. I absolutely love it. I recently thrifted a small cake carrier and might borrow your brilliant idea. Thanks for sharing.

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  8. Stephanie Lynn @Under the Table and DreamingMay 18, 2011 at 8:49 PM

    The lamp turned out amazing. Love the creative idea of using the cake carrier - so unique! Thanks so much for linking to the Sunday Showcase Party - I greatly appreciate it. I have featured this today. Enjoy the rest of your week ~ Stephanie Lynn
    www.bystephanielynn.com

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  9. KellyHMay 19, 2011 at 5:34 AM

    Super Cool!!

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  10. Wendys HatMay 20, 2011 at 1:49 AM

    So creative! I love it!

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  11. LaKetaMay 24, 2011 at 8:57 PM

    This has to be one of the coolest ideas ever!!! I bought a cake carrier extremely similar to yours a couple years ago at a garage sale and it is just sitting on top of my kitchen cabinets...IT will become a cute lamp for my buffet in my dresser....

    Found this on PINTEREST and I am now your newest follower...come visit my blog too!!!

    LaKeta
    1luckeegirl.blogspot.com

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  12. StephanieJune 1, 2011 at 12:02 PM

    Saw this on Better After and had to come take at look at how it was done. So cute! I have a vintage carrier that I no longer had a space for and it's been sitting in the attic because I can't bear to get rid of it. But this is a fabulous idea! I'm definitely going to be on the lookout for a lamp now!

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  13. Bring Pretty BackJune 1, 2011 at 3:33 PM

    This is BRILLIANT! BRILLIANT!BRILLIANT! Thank you for sharing how you did this!!!!!
    Have a pretty day!
    Kristin

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  14. Holly Do.June 2, 2011 at 7:24 AM

    Genius!! I pass these up all the time...now I'm totally buying one! Great idea!

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  15. Alberta Art ClassesJune 9, 2011 at 8:47 PM

    Love. Love. Love.

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  16. LornaJune 10, 2011 at 3:26 PM

    Wow, well done, it look brilliant,

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  17. ChelleSeptember 25, 2011 at 3:51 PM

    This is just beyond darling + clever. Found you via Pintrest. Thank you so much for sharing!

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  18. CatCatDecember 22, 2011 at 10:53 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  19. RosalieApril 5, 2012 at 1:47 AM

    Eine wundervolle Idee!
    Frohe Ostern und ganz liebe Rosaliegrüße ∙∙♥♥∙∙

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  20. NatalieOctober 8, 2012 at 5:57 AM

    speechless! i think you can be my new best friend ;)

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  21. missamandaOctober 12, 2012 at 1:15 PM

    I can't wait to do this I have the exact same cake carrier : )

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  22. c-ingNovember 16, 2012 at 4:12 PM

    That is wonderful. You did a great job. As a child we had a cake carrier similar to yours. It was tin with apples on it. Mom always had it on top of the fridge out of reach when there was a dessert. That didn't work when we got older.

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  23. sheinaNovember 22, 2012 at 2:16 AM

    This is so beautiful and creative. I just have one question. The heat of the lamp rises - where does it escape to? needs open space on top of lamp. am I missing something?

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  24. LilliedaleNovember 27, 2012 at 9:12 AM

    Thanks Sheina! As for the lamp getting hot there is a space between the bulb and the top of the carrier. Since there is an inner shade it diffuses a lot of the heat. After having the lamp on for hours the top is warm to the touch but not hot by any means. Hope that helps. ~Merrilee

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  25. laurie -magpie ethelJanuary 7, 2013 at 8:26 AM

    I just popped over from the link on Diane Zweig's blog. Brilliant light! I have a similar top sitting out in my garage waiting for a project and I think this is it. The inner was a great fix. Smitten.

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    Replies
    1. LilliedaleJanuary 7, 2013 at 10:54 AM

      Thanks so much for stopping by! I love my little lamp

      Delete
  26. AmandaJanuary 24, 2013 at 10:00 AM

    Love this! I have featured this on Craft Gossip today http://homeandgarden.craftgossip.com/vintage-cake-tin-lamp/

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  27. HettyJanuary 25, 2013 at 6:26 AM

    Great idea! I always wondered what else I could do with large tins besides storage. Thanks!

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  28. Restore and RenewJanuary 27, 2013 at 3:03 PM

    I love this idea. It has dual purposes. On it's off time the cake carrier doubles as a lamp. HAHA I love it.

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  29. bohemiannie! artJanuary 28, 2013 at 5:16 AM

    Wonderfully cool.

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  30. Kristen @ Hope AboundApril 10, 2013 at 7:56 AM

    I just saw this on PINTEREST. I'm wathcing several of these cake boxes on EBAY right now and can't wait to get one so I can replicate your idea. So clever!

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  31. RaynorshineJune 9, 2013 at 8:22 PM

    Brilliant !!!

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  32. Lawonia DotsonJune 18, 2013 at 4:26 AM

    Too cute!!! Thanks for sharing.....

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