FINALLY.....I Made Something!!!

I've had a few really exciting, creative weekends lately -- I think my heart and mind are finally adjusting to the new reality of what my dearest friends are going to be going through.  Not that I don't have REAL LOWS.....but I haven't had the urge to retreat from the rest of my life lately.  That even in spite of some very difficult, frightening things for Cheryl. :-(  She is hanging in there, and feeling alot better now, she's even avoided a hospital trip for the past 8 days!  THAT is a real victory for her.

So, when not doing basic housekeeping and running errands for Cheryl, I've been tormenting myself with..... what else? .....PINTEREST!!!!
*Sigh!* The amazing, perfect, gorgeous primitive pictures on there swing me between elation and breathlessness (at the beauty) to sinking hopelessness (because I'll never really live with those things around me).  Haha!  Sounds like a new Mental Condition -- Pinterest-Envy: the depression and hopelessness brought on by looking at too many beautiful things on Pinterest!

Oh yeah, I've got THAT!!! LOL
But the cure for it, even if only temporarily, is to create something from Pinterest!  :-D

So I picked something that I couldn't "X" off my computer because I loved it SO MUCH......

I LOVE this light!!!  I love how it's rusty and has old wood on it, and the electric candles.  I've been dreaming of this light for months!! :-D
So I got on ebay one day and found a really old, rusty funnel (for $4!), and I grabbed it!!  I was even the only bidder -- people didn't know what a treasure they were passing up! (hee hee hee!)

Once that got here, I assembled the other things I had laying around that I knew would work for my light......

I had some old pieces of wood hanging around, those rusty candle cups were from another project that I never made.  And then I just needed the tools -- the saw to trim the wood pieces, and my favorite present (if you remember), my drill.....

I used a special bit that takes a chunk of wood out, and I thought I made it just the right size to fit on top of the funnel end........BUT.......
I was wrong......

I MADE THE HOLE TOO BIG!!!!! :-P
Oh well, I knew what to do!
I got a rubber ring that fit over the funnel end, but since it was black, I had to spray paint it with some textured paint I bought to make redware plates out of (someday)......

It came out perfectly!!!! :-D
And it worked just like I wanted it to.....

So then I had to wait for the electric candle lights that I ordered.  I wanted them to be SMALL and drippy and aged.  I looked around for the best bargain, and ordered them.  They ended up costing about $9 each.  But they included the silicone light bulbs, too!

It was hard to wait, I was so excited about making this light, but it only took a few days.  They got here just before the weekend, which was perfect because I was going to need Brian's help for the last part!! :-)

They had to be taken apart......

 

 

VERY easy!!  I undid the screw -- I was so glad they weren't GLUED!  That would have been trickier!!

I had to cut the wire out......

 

.....which actually was really dumb, because Brian had to cut the wires of both of them anyway!! LOL
I'll remember next time!......

I hammered the tin cups open a little (just cuz I like that look better)......

Now we were ready for the next step......

.....getting it all put together! :-D

This was also Brian's area, although I could drill metal and make recessed holes if I wanted to, but he's quicker and better at it......

No glue needed!!!

Next, he made a hole in the funnel to feed the wires through.....

 

That bottom hole was already there, and will be where we feed the plug-end wire into the funnel.
Now it's ready to be put together!!!! :-D
My antique jelly crock made a perfect "table" so we could staple the wires down.....

Then after feeding both wires into the hole he drilled, and feeding the plug wire into the bottom hole, Brian wired both lights and the plug wire together.....

 

 

 TA-DAAAA!!!!!

It's PERFECT.......

Actually, it needs a little bit more work.  You can't tell in picture, but the wood pieces are wobbly.  I just can't have that!
SO.....I glued and shimmed them the right way......

You can see I even used a level to make sure it was perfect! LOL (it's a mental disease!)
And I used my cut spool piece (another project!) as a weight to keep it in the right position while the glue dried.
The last picture shows the shims I put in to hold the "handle" in a solid up-right position.

Just FYI.....if I hadn't drilled the opening TOO BIG in the first place, I wouldn't have needed to do all this! :-P  Lessons for next time!! :-)

So to hide all this ugliness.....I decided to wrap it in twine!  It adds a nice touch, I think.....

VOILA!!!!!

So there you go, my tutorial for a rusty, make-do candle lamp!!!! :-D

It felt really good to be so excited about creating something!  I've felt like a real DUD about that lately, just not having the energy for anything as I struggle with my feelings about coming loss and the ache of caregiving.  Not that I am complaining one bit about my life!! 
I want to be VERY clear about that -- I know that in all this, *I* am the one who has it easy!!! 

However, the pain of watching someone I care about struggle and suffer, while I can do NOTHING about it, not even my prayers move God, takes an enormous toll on my heart, on ME.  And having to accept God's plan in all this is draining.  I don't want to give up MY plan!  Mine is better, can't He see that??!! :-(

Pat got good news -- she won't need surgery or any more treatments, and will be checked again in 3 months.  I guess that's good (although that was Cheryl's first post-treatment diagnosis, as well -- I didn't say that to Pat or anyone, though).  She was vague with me about whether her cancer is GONE.....and I didn't want to push her on it.  She is happy and optimistic, so I will be too.  I will put my fear for her aside, and concentrate on helping Cheryl.  Please PRAY for her, that God will be merciful and keep the pain away.  No one knows what is causing it when it comes -- it's NOT from her tumors.....I can't believe how much these specialists DO NOT KNOW about cancer and the human body!  It's really disappointing to me.  They have been baffled more times than they have had answers! :-P

Also, please THANK God for giving Pat a reprieve like we've asked Him to.  I am grateful that He has done some healing for her.  We are going to go up for a visit this summer, and I'm so happy that I'll be able to visit her while she is feeling good! :-)

Sooooo ---- I have been working on a few other things around here, too, which means I will have some more FUN posts and pictures for my blog!  YAY!! :-D

I hope everyone had a nice Easter, too!  Although I am deeply spiritual and very strong in my beliefs about God and Jesus, I am NOT religious, and have had several BAD church-experiences.  So we don't go to church.  But we observe and talk about what Easter means, and I am happy to see my children have such a strong faith and belief in Jesus too.  I guess we're doing OK!!! :-D

THANK YOU ALL, my dear online friends, for sticking with me over the many dark months on my blog.  You guys are the reason I didn't just stop blogging and bury my head under my pillow!  I thank God for you all!!  ^-^