Tag Sales Story #1

I was excited to see that a few readers had projects from Tag Sales, Flea Markets, Antique Stores, and various other bargain hunting adventures to share on the blog. Today, our first entry for the chance to win Martha's Book and of course to wow us all, is Rhoda, of Southern Hospitality.

Rhoda was one of the first readers to comment, and I'm so glad she did. Rhoda had a couple of exciting garage sale finds, but I was most intrigued with her $5 lamp. A project for sure, Rhoda picked it up with great plans for the oh so cheap beauty.

Aren't the lines graceful? Most people would have passed this lamp by, thinking it was ugly, or too big, but not our Rhoda. Rhoda saw the potential, and grabbed her 5 dollar bill and went home the thief of a good deal! A couple of months went by before Rhoda had time to work on lamp. She knew it needed a new shade, but it had to be smaller, and beautiful - much more beautiful. So off to her favorite junk shop she went, finding a $2 shade that was simply perfect!

Well, simply perfect height and shape. It takes an eye to see past the "ugly" on a project like this, but Rhoda did - and with $12 worth of fabric and trim from her local fabric store, she began the arduous task of recovering the lampshade.

Spray adhesive, a glue gun, and plenty of patience and time is all Rhoda needed to get through this project, which she blogged about here. Now, if you read through the pages of Rhoda's blog - which I highly suggest, you'll see that shes had some practice recovering lampshades. They're all finished so beautifully:

Leaving no detail unattended, Rhoda makes a great impact all around her home with these custom lampshades, and of course the lampshade which finished out her perfect $5 lamp:

What a transformation? From an ugly pass by to a beautiful lamp to great all of your guests on the perfect entry table. Rhoda's total $19 investment is definitely a bargain. Lamps like this one without as much detail range from $99 - $340, and they don't come adorned with such lovely custom shades, either! Rhoda's keen sense for what this lamp could be, along with her ability to transform it is definitely worth applause, and a ticket in the drawing of Martha Stewart's book.

(Rhoda's Charming Entry Vignette, with lamp.)

Now, here is how the book giving will work: Comments will be considered votes. So if you like Rhoda's lamp re-do, leave a comment on this post. You may vote once for each person featured in the book give-away. So, if you're impressed by Rhoda's bargain find, and decorator eye - leave a comment here!