knock-off mercury glass lamp and coffee sack burlap shade

updated February 26, 2013: I'm so excited to be linking up again to Young House Love's Pinterest Challenge! The two inspiration projects below were pinned to my {private} Competition pin board back in December in anticipation of the So You Think You're Crafty? competition. In January, this project did well enough in the competition to qualify for the next level. At the bottom of this post is a link to my full tutorial.

I love mercury glass. Love it. It's shiny and vintage-looking and meant to look imperfect, all of which make it work well in my house. I especially love the way mercury glass lamps look, and the contrast of a rustic burlap shade really sets off the shiny mirrored glass. What I don't love is the price-tag.

For quite awhile, I've had the desire to try and make a mercury glass lamp with thrift store cast-offs, on a super small budget. Thanks to the So You Think You're Crafty competition, I had the motivation I needed to pull it off!

First: the originals and the low-cost knock off:

Originals from Restoration Hardware ($174 w/o shade) and Pottery Barn ($269 w/ shade). My copy: $18, w/shade.

I built it using an extra-tall glass thrift-store vase, a repurposed pan lid, the light kit from an old lamp, and some Looking Glass paint. The drum shade is one I stripped down and re-covered in coffee sack burlap. The Edison-style bulbs were a ReStore score for 50 cents apiece.

Mine has a more rustic shade than the Restoration Hardware version, and straighter lines than Pottery Barn's, and it suits me pretty perfectly.  I hope it suits you, too! At a savings of over 90%, you can't really afford not to make one!

For the full tutorial, you can click here, and I'll take you through it step-by-step!

Linking up to:
Junkin' Joe Vintage Finds

and the Pinterest Challenge

Young House Love

Decor and the Dog

Bower Power Blog

The ReModeled Life