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Sunday, July 27, 2014

It's a Camera Lamp! DIY that's e-a-s-y

Perhaps you've seen them on Pinterest, or for sale on Etsy. The camera lamp is an aawesome DIY in which a beautiful old camera is somehow reworked into a a beautiful light fixture. It usually involves drilling, and wiring, and electricity fucking with.
find sources on my Pinterest
Those I cannot make. Nope, no time, might burn the building down. Here's what I can make:
I started with this:
I got that sweet vintage camera at a church yard sale In June for either $1 or $2, I can't recall. It's a Kodak Duaflex II. Wasn't sure what to do with it. I bought it to sell on Etsy, but rethought it; these old cameras are all over and I don't even know if that one works. Apparently people are using these to take pics! I use mine as dust collectors. Anyway, I found this:
I saw it on the shelf at Goddwill for $1.99. A lamp base, where something was broken off at some point. Endless possibilities for what could be placed on top of that red platform! Like an old camera? Here's your $2!
I spray painted it. It was kind of beat up before. Now it looks much fresher! I accidentally spray painted a little of the wire, too. My bad.
At this point, I noticed the width of the lamp base and shape of the camera which I was planning on combining. It didn't seem like a great "fit." Putting it in the middle would have left me with weird empty sides and a visible hole on the right. Putting the camera on one side would be just wrong. I would need something else. Like an old roll of film in an old timey box. I figured I would find one soon enough.
I did not. Impatiently, I considered other options. Sitting in my living room and doing absolutely nothing was this:
 It's an old flash thing. I remember being at the flea market with my sister last year and coming across a big pile of stuff and a "free" sign. I just started grabbing and this was amongst my haul. Could that work? Let's see...
Well, that couldn't possibly work out any better. That "Flasholder" (that's what it says) is for a Kodak Duaflex! And it's just been sitting there purposeless. I'll repurpose the hell out of it!
Look how cute they are, side by side. Now that I was ready to attach, I used a strong adhesive that claimed it would pretty much bond anything to anything. Of course, there's always an issue. The bottoms of both objects weren't just flat across.
See what I mean? I covered both surfaces in glue, but it just didn't seem like I had enough coverage. I had to do some last minute improvising with felt. Then, I had to let it cure for 24 hours. So loooong...
Here's how it looks!
Nothing fancy here. Unlike the more excellent camera lamps, light doesn't come from the actual camera or a flashbulb; but this was way easy! It was made just like I make most of my DIY stuff. Glue things to other things. I even added an old lampshade that I picked up for $.99.
I am now second guessing said lampshade for not being wide enough. Anyway, if you're keeping track of the cost here, let's break it down:
Camera: $2
Lamp base: $1.99
Flash thing: free
Shade: $.99
Total: $4.98! (One could also attempt to factor in the price of the adhesive. I don't know, $0.40 of it?)
Completing a DIY project using all second hand stuff and having it come out the way you intended? Priceless.
Just kidding! I put a price on that sucker, once the glue was dry. Vintage Camera Lamp by Sweet Scores Vintage on Etsy
I priced it at $40. Now, I wait.


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