Favorite Things Friday: Ebay.

The fabulous lady at Quilting in My Pyjamas has brought back Favorite Things Friday. I'm coming late to the party since it was Friday in Australia yesterday, but it's still not too late to join the fun. Mrs. Pyjamas is not a stickler for which Friday we observe.  Click on the button on the right if you want to play.

Okay, so my favorite thing this Friday is Ebay.  I've sold items and I've bought items.  The things I've bought in the past are usually along the lines of ink cartridges for my printer, soft paws for my cat (back when it wasn't against his policy to wear them), and the like.  Generally cool, but not mind-blowing.

Now, I know you're looking at the picture of the lamp thinking I bought it on Ebay, and you'd be wrong.  I bought only the lampshade on Ebay. 

Here's the story:  My grandparents have had this lamp in their house for the past thirty years (perhaps longer, but that's the limit of my knowledge).  Once upon a time, it looked like it does now.  And then the lampshade got broken.  I never saw it in its original form.  By the time I had knowledge of it, it had a replacement shade that was plain white because a matching shade could not be found.

When we made the move from Nevada to Kansas, the replacement shade got broken.  Not really a big surprise.  The thing is pretty fragile.

So I went searching through Ebay looking for yet another replacement.  I was just hoping to find another plain white shade that fit.  You cannot imagine my shock and surprise, when I came across the shade that was a perfect match to the base.  And it cost me $10 plus shipping.  Unbelievable!

My Favorite Thing Friday with Mrs. Pyjamas #2

This stained glass lamp is one of my favorite things.  My dad made it, and I had the role of assistant.  So it's special in two ways--the fact that my dad made it, and the fact that I have the memories of working on it with him.  My dad was very artistic.  He played several musical instruments, but favored the guitar and piano, and had a short stint in his youth playing professionally before it became apparent that was a good way to starve  (like many artists, it's very hard for a musician to actually make a living doing it); he wrote novels and short stories (twenty of the short stories were published); he painted, and he learned to do stained glass.  Before making this lamp, he did only a couple flat pieces, then intrigue with lampshades caught him.  This is not the only one he did.  I'll show off the other at a later "My Favorite Thing Friday".

My dad made this lamp for my maternal grandmother.  She chose the colors.  Stained glass lamp shades are made using a Styrofoam form.  My dad cut the pieces, and I ground down the rough edges.  We both worked on the soldering.  There are over 1000 pieces in this shade.  The shade is over 20 years old (unfortunately, I don't have an exact date).  The lamp returned to us when my maternal grandparents passed away.

When we made the move to Nevada, we didn't have a house waiting for us.  We were going to have to find one after moving.  Consequently we held an estate sale and sold everything we couldn't carry in the back of one pick-up with a hard top.  The bedroom furniture you see in the photo came with us because my mom's dad made it.  So did the lampshade--but only because my mom put her foot down.  My dad was not sentimental in any respect.  His take was that he had the fun of making it, but it wasn't necessary to keep it.  Got to thank my mother for not putting up with that reasoning. 

After we arrived and got settled, she made this quilt specifically to match the lampshade.  Every quilt that goes on this bed must have some green in it.  She's made a fall quilt, and it looks great with the lamp too.

So there's my favorite thing for this week.  Be sure to check out everyone else's favorite thing.  You might find some neat stories, or a great idea.