Erin of the Domestic Adventure blog has been so kind as to share one of her latest Goodwill repurposing projects with us!  Please read below for details on how to transform a boring lamp shade into a lamp that fits your style:

I love the look of white ceramic lamp bases and I see them everywhere these days.  Naturally, I can never quite justify the price of these lamp bases, never mind the shades, for something that I just simply want.  Except, of course, when I am at Goodwill!

A few weeks ago I found this white ceramic lamp base and a random shade at my local Goodwill store in Ellsworth, Maine.  For a total of $5.00, the ugly ducklings came home with me for a re-vamping!

The lamp base itself was in pretty good shape.  I gave it a good cleaning and it was ready to go.  The shade, on the other hand, needed to be broken down.  The cashier at Goodwill commented on how pretty the lamp shade was and she seemed disappointed when I explained that I was going to rip the fabric off and recover it.  To each her own, right?

With a few tugs and tears the fabric on the shade came right off.

With some patterned white fabric and white bias tape in hand, I started to recover the shade.  There are probably a gazillion tutorials on the web that explain how to cover a lamp shade, but I was too impatient.

I dug right in, making my first mistake.  I cut a single strip of fabric a bit wider than the shade and tried to wrap it around.  With a cone-shaped shade, that just didn’t work.  So, I got smart and used a large piece of fabric, wrapping it around as I went.

Next I glued the edges and trimmed the fabric down right to the edge of the shade.  It was almost complete!

Then I glued the bias tape in place on both the top and bottom to give a nice, finished look.  I also used the bias tape to cover the glued seam of the fabric.

With a few swipes of my hot glue gun I was done.  I plugged in the lamp and admired my handiwork.  I couldn’t help but feel like I got a great lamp for a total steal.  Here is how the cost broke down:

Lamp base: $2.99

Lamp shade: $1.99

Fabric: $3.50 (for ½ yard)

Bias tape: $1.90

Total: $10.38

Not too shabby considering the lamps I admire elsewhere start at $30.  Plus, I ended up with a custom lamp shade that coordinates with my guest bedroom.

So, be sure to make the lighting section a regular stop when you are in your local Goodwill and you, too, will have creative, inexpensive lighting solutions for your home!

Erin is the author of the Domestic Adventure Blog (http://www.domesticadventure.com), where she documents her adventures in homemaking while juggling life, love and her career.  By day Erin is a fundraising and PR professional for a Maine nonprofit.  Erin lives near Bar Harbor, Maine, with her husband Chris and their dog Frankie.

This week we are featuring a pretty amazing piece – an antique reed organ in working condition! We believe it was made at some point in the late nineteenth or early twentieth centuries.  The manufacturer is the Smith American Organ Company (Boston).

The organ measures 24″ deep, 30″ tall” and 42.5″ wide.

Please note that we are selling the piece “as is.”  While it seems to work, there are some scratches and dings – the keys need some work.  This is a great piece – because of its large size, we are only offering local pickup (Portland, Maine).  Please view the complete listing on our eBay site and please feel free to email the Goodwill eBay team if you have questions.

The starting bid on this piece is only $50!

Dear readers,

On Friday, February 5, Goodwill hosted students from King Middle School in Portland for Junior Achievement Job Shadowing Day.  Student Hannah Stenberg wrote a blog post to share her experiences.  If you are interested in hosting students at your worksite, next year, please visit Junior Achievement.

On Friday the 5th of February, the 8th grade students of King Middle School had the opportunity to shadow and collaborate with the employees at the Goodwill Industries of New England in Portland Maine.  As a part of National Job Shadow Day the students were able to take a peek into the inner workings of Goodwill.  The students were split into groups of 2 or 3 and each spent the day with an employee ranging from Marketing Associates to Retail Managers.

Not only were the students able to experience what their certain employee does, but they were also able to learn more about the many ways Goodwill gives back through their programs and services.  The group that I was in spent the day with Jane Driscoll an employee in the Marketing field. We started out the day brainstorming phrases to put on the wall of the new Goodwill store in South Portland. The wall needed to describe how the customers purchases were making a difference in the community. One description was, “By shopping here today your helping community members empower themselves in the work place.”

It was really interesting to see how even 8th graders ideas could have an impact on the Goodwill work place. In short, Job Shadow Day was a definite success and I hope that the King students have the opportunity to job shadow at Goodwill in the future.

Dear readers,

I am excited to present a Goodwill transformation project completed by Erin Fogg, who writes the beautiful Domestic Adventure blog.  Read below to see how she turns a thrifted bench into a beautiful addition for her walk-in closet.

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I rarely go into Goodwill looking for something I need.  Instead, I look for something that will inspire, and I am rarely disappointed.

Take this bench for example.  After more than a year searching for the perfect bench for the dressing table in our new walk-in closet, this jumped right out at me at the Ellsworth, Maine store.

Sure, I had seen many benches that I liked online and in local stores.  But, I was looking for a deal, and for a piece that was the right height and style for the room.  This bench was a little bit short and a little ugly, but I knew I could fix it up and customize it.  With a price of $4.99 the deal was done and I brought it home to test it out.

After removing the current fabric to reveal a gazillion nail and staple holes, I devised a plan to recover this old piece.  My plan was to cover and tuft the cushion, add about 6 inches of height to the base, and add a skirt to the frame to cover all of the holes and my handiwork.

With some beautiful silk from Marden’s (a local bargain store) and some styrofoam that I found in our basement, I recovered the cushion.  To create the tufted look, I pulled through some buttons that I ­covered myself.

Next I added some 2×4 pieces of wood to the base to add the necessary height.  It didn’t look very pretty, but it was just the solution I needed.

Finally, I added a skirt to the base by simply stapling fabric to the wood.  After just a few minutes I had the finished product in place at the dressing table!

The total price for my bench was $33.99, which included the bench, fabric and wood.  Best of all, it is completely customized for this particular space!

So, next time you go to Goodwill, make sure to use your Goodwill eye.  Look closely at what you find and use your imagination to think of ways you can re-purpose items for décor solutions in your own home.  It’s fun, and rewarding!

Erin is the author of the Domestic Adventure Blog, where she documents her adventures in homemaking while juggling life, love, and her career.  By day Erin is a fundraising and PR professional for a Maine nonprofit.  Erin lives near Bar Harbor, Maine, with her husband Chris and their dog Frankie.

In honor of Valentine’s day and the crafting fever that hits us all mid-winter, the Auburn Goodwill store is hosting a Valentine’s Day Craft & Vintage Sale. The sale is this Sunday only and will feature fabric at $.99/yard, shredded wool sold by the bag (perfect for rug hookers and braiders), notions, vintage clothing and jewelry, furniture, and more!

The Auburn, Maine store is open this Sunday from 10 am to 6 pm.  For more information, please contact the store at (207) 783-1702.

Here’s a sneak preview of the some of the items