Copycat Vintage Thermos Lamp
I’ve always heard that, “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.” I hope that the talented Pam from House of Hawthornes agrees with this because I 100% copied her clever idea for making a lamp from a vintage thermos. Pam found her thermos at a yard sale and mine was a dumpster diving find. I loved this thermos the minute my friend Suzanne pulled it from the dumpster and graciously let me have it knowing that I would use it in a vignette for seasonal decorating. It’s been in the basement waiting to be used and now it’s in our office where it’s both decorative and useful.
This thermos lamp was very easy to make following Pam’s instructions. I found the shade and lamp kit needed for the project at Lowes. The most time consuming part of the lamp making process was breaking the glass liner and removing the glass shards from the thermos.
Since the thermos is lightweight, I filled the bottom with sand and pebbles so that it won’t topple over when it is being turned on and off.
Wouldn’t this be a great lamp for a porch or a lake cottage? I have a feeling that this lamp is going to get moved from room to room in my home as I find new spots to use it.
Cute lamp! I have seen these thermos at thrift stores and wondered what to do with them
Your lamp is cute! I’m sure Pam is flattered. 😉
I’m very flattered, Paula!!! It looks great! I can’t believe you found that in the dumpster though. Who in their right mind would throw that away!
Wow, I love this! It looks fantastic! What a fun project!
Thank you! I am thrilled with it and am already enjoying using it.
Paula
So cute!
Thank you and thanks for giving the thermos to me!
Paula
Hi Paula – What a great and creative idea, I just love it! Such a fabulous gift idea for friends and family who are big campers, I know they would love it. Pinning and hope you have a happy Sunday!
Thanks, Cindy! If we ever build a lake house, it will be perfect there.
Paula
Hi Paula ~ Your vintage thermos lamp is genius! And I can’t believe you scooped it out of a dumpster – free $ and cool too. Because it’s so fantastic, we are featuring your thermos lamp this week at Share It Sunday. Thanks for sharing your creativity with us and don’t forget to grab a “featured” button, too!
The minute I saw this I was in love! It is such a great use of a vintage item, Paula. Thank you so much for sharing at Project Inspire{d} ~ your project was one of our features this week. I hope to see you for tonight’s party!
Art Auctions For Sculptures
Art auctions for sculptures are a great way to find new art for your home or office. I like to peruse the online auction sites for nice sculptures. I have found some very interesting items when I抳e looked.
There was a sculpture sold on eBay recently that was entitled Love. The art auction for this sculpture went above the estimated value. The piece was red and blue and made of polychrome aluminum. The French artist抯 name was Robert Indiana. The art auction listed the item as six feet tall, six feet wide and three feet deep.
I liked a hall stand that was carved from wood that I found in an online art auction. The carving depicted a playful bear climbing a fir tree. There was a young bear cub carved into one of the branches. The branches were there to serve as garment hooks and there was even a mirror on the piece in a carved oak leaf designed frame.
There was an exquisite sculpture by a Russian artist that was sold recently in an art auction. The subject of the sculpture was a Bar Mitzvah boy and the medium was marble. I think that marble statues seem so timeless and elegant. It is an excellent medium for a sculpture.
The wife of artist Yitzhak Danziger signed a certificate for the brass sculpture her husband completed in 1969. Danziger is an Israeli artist. The piece looked very abstract to me. It did not do very well in the art auction and sold for less than it抯 estimated worth.
I found a lot of bronze sculptures in the online art auctions. Most of them were of people, but the ones I liked best were abstract. My absolute favorite was a Harry Bertoia bronze sculpture called Bush. This piece is also known as a Brain or Coral. The bidding for this piece of art in the art auction was started at thirty nine thousand dollars. It didn抰 get a bidder.
I saw little interest in the bronze sculpture art auctions for animal figures. I not sure if the reasons they didn抰 get bidders were because of subject matter or because of price. Bronze is an expensive medium for an artist to work in and it takes a lot of training to be proficient.
I have a favorite glass sculptor. Air Max His work goes for so much in online art auctions that I will probably never own a piece of his work. Dale Chihuly is magnificent. There are permanent installations of his tremendous work all over the world.
Crystal sculptures look more like paperweights to me. Online art auctions for glass representations of animals and sea life are really neat. My favorite art auction recently was for a hand blown glass jellyfish. It was magical.
I liked another online art auction for optical crystal that had been turned into a work of art by artist Christopher Ries. The piece was small and called Lotus. It would look so pretty in a well lit display case.
I抦 jealous of the buyer that gets to call this sculpture their own. They won the piece in the art auction for just under a thousand dollars. This artist uses blocks of pure, clear lead crystal cast from Schott Glass Technologies of Duryea, Pennsylvania. It is truly amazing art. His work is prominently displayed in numerous galleries and even in the Columbus airport in Columbus, Ohio.