Arthur is a creative genius, too

Arthur was home from school for a bit, and one day we were out for a walk and discovered a lamp that someone was getting rid of. Very sleek and stylish, with a brushed metal stand and a dark shade. He picked it up to bring home.

When we got here, he went to the basement and started dismantling it! He threw most of it away, but kept the shade and the doohickey that the bulb screws into (and the snazzy pull chain). Then he rummaged around for a piece of wood, got the little hand-held saw, a drill, some lamp cord, a touch of paint...


And now we have a seasonal lamp, with a lovely 3-D carrot nose (which artfully covers the hole he had to drill to get the cord out the back of the snowman).

He got the idea out of a book called Boy Craft, a reprint of an old project book which often calls for cigar boxes and other esoteric materials. Our copy has been well-thumbed, and I think must have got wet at some point as well!

This pattern especially instructs the crafter to get the "new" kind of plug, which you can see in the picture... must have been new before I was born, I think. It also suggests covering the shade frame with gingham and a ruffled edge -- maybe Mom or big sister would help with that! Or you could recycle your neighbours' discards.

To avoid any problems with bunny ears getting in the way (since we didn't have a 4" piece of brass pipe), he totally changed the whole design.

Kinda like his mom and knitting patterns...