Maybe you can learn from my mistakes

I admit that I sometimes get ahead of myself. I'm the kinda gal who thinks every new lover is THE one, every new job is the best job I ever had, every new teapot is my favorite (yeah, the teapot issue is another post entirely).

Being overzealous has its good points and its bad points. On the bright side, I can be fearless; I'm more than willing to go careening down a snow-covered hill in an inner tube not knowing what obstacles may be awaiting me below, and I'll be nothing but exhilarated by the whole experience.

On the other hand, that overzealous fearlessness can cause me to jump into projects without doing all my homework. The old adage “measure twice, cut one” was totally invented for people like me. And I try really hard to follow that advice. Still, not everything works out as I'd like.

Take for instance this idea that we can spray paint over lace to create decorative items. I saw some of these on Pinterest and elsewhere and they looked really lovely. http://offbeatbride.com/2011/07/spray-paint-through-lace http://pinterest.com/pin/4362930858495401/ http://pinterest.com/pin/120471358751751201/

I have used lace to imprint onto clay in ceramic class. Surely I could find a project for it in my house somewhere and heaven knows I have my share of spray paint in the basement.

So, I was off and running. I have this little lamp I recently bought for $5 at my local thrift store. It was the right shape and size for my entryway where I needed more light since the remodel.

My décor is neutral browns and beige with touches of very light blues and greens in the living room. So I got out my brown spray paint and picked up some lace strips for $1 at the thrift store.

Rather than use adhesive I used straight pins to pin the lace around the bottom of the shade. I taped off the rest of the shade to protect it from overspray. The lampshade is slightly tapered and I had to figure out how I was going to get the lace to lay flat. So I pinned small pleats at intervals around the shade at the top of the lace, while the bottom remained flat against the lamp shade.

So then I just started spray painting.

And here's how it turned out once I removed the tape and pins.

Maybe it just wasn't a great piece of lace. Maybe I should have used adhesive instead of straight pins. Maybe it's the color I don't like. Maybe I'm just not as crafty as I like to think. What do you think? Wanna buy a used lamp? I'll sell it to ya' real cheap.