When Mr. Frugalista brought this trio of large hourglass wooden vases home I wasn't sure what I'd do with them. I couldn't believe the original price of $79.99 compared to the whopping $4 he paid at the thrift store. With their Scandinavian mid-century modern vibe, I thought they'd look cool stacked together and turned into a tall floor height vase. Then inspiration struck and the idea to turn them into a DIY Geometric Table Lamp instead was born.

DIY Geometric Lamp From Repurposed Wood Vases

If you follow my Facebook page, you may have seen this photo of the vases with their original price tag and the thrift store price sticker, all because they were missing two of the glass cylinder inserts.

Here is a better look at the wooden vase trio. In case you missed it, you can see what I did with the one and only surviving glass insert pictured below in my DIY Ombre Valentine Vase post.

For the lamp DIY, we used these supplies:

This post contains affiliate links for your convenience so you can see what products I used or recommend to make this project. See my full disclosure policy.

Here is how we turned the vases into a lamp:

Step 1 - Drill holes for threaded pipe

First, drill a hole through the bottom of each vase with a 1/2-inch drill bit for the threaded pipe of the light kit assembly.

Step 2 - Hole for lock nut washer

On the bottom vase, use a 1-inch Forstner drill bit to make a hole for the threaded pipe lock nut washer. This is what holds the entire light kit together.

Step 3 - Joining the vases together

In order to keep the holes lined up in all three vases during assembly, place the threaded pipe (we had to add an extension to accommodate the height of our lamp) through the vases and loosely tightened the lock nut.

Run a bead of wood construction adhesive to the top rim of the bottom vase. Slip the middle vase through the threaded pipe and press firmly for a tight bond. Wrap duct tape around the joint to hold the vases in place and repeat the step above for the middle and top vase assembly. Leave the duct tape on until the adhesive is fully cured.

Step 4 - Prep for paint

Fill the gaps between the vases with layers of wood filler and allow to dry fully between each one. Sand the joints smooth with 150 grit sandpaper. Also lightly sand the wood vases with 220 grit sandpaper to give the paint some bite.

Step 5 - Lamp base feet

To raise the lamp to accommodate the electrical cord we attached four plastic cushioned glides to the base with a hammer.

Step 6 - Paint the vases

The original plan was to give the wood just a wash of white paint and sand back a little for the original light wood to peek through. I had them all painted and ready for a new shade. The plan was to buy a large drum shade with a colorful geometric pattern.

Had I known how difficult it would be to find a shade large enough to work with the large base, I would have searched far ahead of time to order one online.

We did manage to find a large shade but our only option available locally was white linen. BORING with the white painted base. Onto plan B...

I repainted the base with mineral chalk paint in a pretty sea glass color. Mineral chalk paint does not require sealing but I chose to apply white wax both to soften the color and protect the base.

Step 7 - Light kit installation

I'm not going to do a full tutorial on how to install the lamp light kit. I should note that we purchased a tri-light bulb kit. It's important that you follow the manufacturer's instructions on the packaging.

Step 8 - The shade

Attach the shade to the harp, plug in the lamp and we're done!

Are you ready to see the wooden vases now?

Here's what the lamp looks like on. It casts a lovely soft light at night.

A closer look at the sea glass painted base.

So what do you think? When you saw the before photos of the wood vases did you see a lamp?

If you're like me and enjoy seeing the potential in old things and giving them a brand new purpose, then you may like these Repurposed Home Decor ideas and these Repurposed Furniture ideas.

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If you saw a tall ornate frame that was missing the mirror at a thrift store, would you buy it? The angels sang when we found not one but a matching pair of tall finial style mirrorless frames and I instantly knew what I wanted to do with them. But I had to wait for the holidays. The wait is over and I can finally show you how to make holiday DIY chalkboards from old mirrors.

DIY Holiday Chalkboards From Old Mirrors

Of course, they don't have to be used just for the holidays. I might use the red one in my office after Christmas. These are what the mirrorless frames looked like when we got them. They most likely came off a large dresser.

Just a few coats of paint and patience waiting for paint to dry are all you need to make these.

This post contains affiliate links for your convenience so you can see what products I used or recommend to make this project. I don't recommend products unless I've tried them first. See my full disclosure policy.

Making the DIY chalkboards

Here's where we'll turn the old hardboard backing from the frames into chalkboards but first they should be primed. I darkened my go-to white primer with leftover grey chalk paint that I had on hand. I rolled the primer on with a 4-inch foam roller.

Once the primer was dry I rolled a thin coat of Black Rustoleum Chalkboard Paint. Thin coats are key for using this paint but flat latex or chalk paint also works for making chalkboards. The recommended dry time for this particular paint is four hours between coats. This is where patience comes into play so while the paint was drying I got busy painting the frames.

Paint the old mirror frames

I painted one frame festive Dixie Belle Barn Red and the other wintery Buttercream. Two thin coats of each color.

Age and distress the frames

On the white frame, I lightly distressed the edges and around those lovely curves on the top with a 220-grit sanding pad. Because Dixie Belle mineral paint doesn't require a top coat and cures rock hard after 30 days, I left it clean.

On the red frame, I aged the color with a coat of brown wax applied with a stiff bristle round brush. You can see the difference between the left side with the dark wax and the right side without wax. It adds so much depth to the color and gives the paint an aged patina.

Season and decorate the chalkboards for the holidays

Before putting the chalkboards back into the frames I seasoned them. This is a must with DIY chalkboards unless you want your first creative drawing etched permanently. To season the new chalkboard simply rub the side of a stick of chalk both vertically and horizontally across the board and wipe with a paper towel or chalk brush.

Time to have fun decorating your new chalkboards for the holidays! I used this ornament stencil on the red chalkboard - the same stencil I used for my Holiday IKEA Pillow Covers. On the white chalkboard, I combined this homestead coffee stencil and this Christmas blend hot chocolate stencil to decorate mine.

I love how festive the chalkboards look for the holidays but would look wonderful hanging on any wall in the house year-round.

Do you decorate with chalkboards during the holidays? If so, how and where do you use them around your home?

Here are some other DIY chalkboard ideas you may like.
Large DIY Chalkboard No Power Tools Required
Round DIY Chalkboards From Silver Plates & Chargers
Chalkboard Menu From Repurposed Framed Art

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I stole my grandson's sleepover room and he isn't happy. Grandma needed more square footage for her home office. He got the smaller room and I sold him on nice and cozy. On the wishlist for my new office was adding functional workspace on the walls with repurposed finds. After a trip to a local salvage yard, I found just what I was looking for and I'm excited to show you how to make dry erase wall calendars with old windows.

Home Reuseables only had three salvaged windows the size that worked for my wall but one was missing the glass. I took it anyways and turned it into a chicken wire note board. I may eventually get glass cut for it so I can have three months at-a-glance to map out blog post ideas for each quarter.

DIY Dry Erase Wall Calendars From Old Windows

Here are the old 24" x 28" sash windows with original hardware. I paid $15 per window and $10 for the one missing the glass. Can't beat those prices considering a plain run of the mill dry erase board this size costs well over $15.

Affiliate links are included in this post for your convenience so you can see what products I used or recommend to make this project. See my disclosure policy.

After a good scrub with vinegar water and a toothbrush, I lightened the windows with a wash of Old White chalk paint. I simply dipped the tips of my round brush into water and then the paint and moved the paint with the grain of the wood until just a wash of paint covered the original wood.

I liked the aged patina of the window sash hardware so all I did was give them a scrub with warm water to remove the dust and called it a day.

Old Window Chicken Wire Note Board

Now for the fun part, starting with the note board. I had a roll of chicken wire in my stash leftover from the Farmhouse Cupboard makeover. I figured because the windows would be hanging on the wall no one will notice that I didn't bother painting the back.

Using a pneumatic staple gun I stretched the chicken wire across the back of the picture frame, stapled it in place and cut off the excess with wire cutters. It's that simple guys but be warned, wear gloves or you'll be wearing band-aids.

Old Window Dry Erase Wall Calendars

Onto the salvaged windows repurposed into dry erase wall calendars. The hardest part was doing the math for the grid.

I wanted a nice crisp white background for the dry erase board so the writing would pop. I used one sheet of white bristol board for each calendar cut to fit flush with the back of the glass.

Tip: Cutting the bristol board to go across the back of the window frame and not flush with the glass creates annoying shadow lines.

I'm not going to lie, it took a bit to figure out the spacing for the seven-day grid. All that math was making my head hurt so I asked Mr. Frugalista for help. The Bristol board was cut 19 3/4" wide x 23 3/4" long. No matter how hard we tried to get an equal measurement across when divided by seven using the imperial measurement, we couldn't get it precise.

When we switched to measuring in millimeters we got it right. I won't bore you with the calculations considering the chances of you finding the same window size may be slim but the boxes are 71.4 mm wide x 3 1/2 inches tall - how's that for mixing things up! If you're a math whiz, just humor me, please.

The weekday header is half an inch high leaving lots of room for notes on the top half of the calendar.

If you are fortunate enough to have a die cut machine, cut vinyl for the weekday headings. I, unfortunately, do not nor could I find self-adhesive letters that fit within the header space so I used a small stencil that I had on hand.

Then I went over all the pencil marks with a fine tip black marker.

Tip: Wipe the straight edge with a paper towel after drawing each line with the marker or you'll have pretty ink marks all over your crisp white calendar.

I did find self-adhesive letters to label the Notes section at the top of the calendar.

I slipped the bristol board calendar behind the window pane and used white tape to hold it in place. The windows are hung on the wall with two of these picture hangers per window.

Prior to repurposing the old windows, I had one of those large paper month-at-a-glance wall calendars hanging on my office wall with colored sticky notes that I could move around as needed. While the calendar was functional it wasn't so pretty, especially considering my office is on the main floor of our home.

With color dry erase markers I can easily categorize and shuffle my editorial calendar around as needed. Not only are my calendars super functional, but I'm also no longer embarrassed if guests see them from the hallway en route to the powder room.

Using an old window for a calendar doesn't have to be just for an office. With its lovely farmhouse charm, is a wonderful idea for a family activity calendar with a spot at the top for writing reminders and notes to one another. I could see this hanging in a kitchen, mudroom or child's bedroom.

The next step to my home office makeover is painting the walls and I have big plans for the dark brown one.

I share my projects at these fabulous link parties.