Swamp Lamps: Alluring Illumination

With containment comes time.  Lots and lots of time.  I worry what the future is going to look like.  When October comes, will we feel safe and comfortable going from house to house, drawing close to each other, hands diving into a shared bucket of candy, without fear of deadly germs?  I know it seems silly to think about but it's the normalcy of traditions like Halloween night I miss.  Heck I miss even the freedom of thinking about silly things.

I figured the best therapy would be to plug forward as if all were going to be the same and get to prop making.  I have a long list of stuff I want to try and managed to somehow start 3 all at the same time.  The first to completion (or near completion at least) are these gobsmacking swamp lamps I found via Pinterest & the Halloween Forum.

You can find the instructions here.  They're well written and clear; I pretty much followed them to a tee.  What I posted here are actually the 2nd and 3rd pass at the project.  I kinda messed up the first one when I got to the painting step and I could kick myself.  It's vitally important to use a wash or water down your paint.  It's what gives it the more natural look vs just some craft paint on CelluClay.  And take your time, layer the paint.  You can always add more but you can't take it away.

This was my first time using CelluClay and I LOVE it.  What a fantastic product!  If you haven't used it before, I suggest starting at the base of your lamp where you can experiment and hide "mistakes."  I decided to go over the CelluClay with water using either my finger or a paint brush to smooth it out in an effort to match the smoother texture of driftwood.  I used the CelluClay to bulk up areas, built "bridges" between the bamboo - anything to hide the distinctive look of a tiki torch.

Be patient with the paint, slowly building up the color
for greater realism. 

My daughter and I gathered the wood and some of the shells on a beach trip, the rest was stuff from my stash.  Shark teeth, shells, beach glass....honestly I had a hard time stopping, I just kept thinking of fun things to add.

The shark teeth were found "panning" at a pumpkin festival.
My daughter did gems, I wanted fossils. We both were happy.

Like the "seaweed!"  At first I was going to add moss but then started to worry it would just dry and eventually fall off.   Switching course, I dyed some cheesecloth green (I did two pieces, soaking one longer than the other to get different shades) and then cut small squares.  After pulling at it a bit, stretching it out, I used matte Modge Podge to adhere it to the sides.  I gently brushed more Modge Podge in other areas of the cheesecloth to give it a wet look.  The result is somewhere between seaweed and fishnet, either of which works just fine for me!

Seaweed clings to the outside as light illuminates the creepy
interior of the lamp base

Last note, I realized too late on my first one so remedied it here - it's really incredible when the light is able to find it's way DOWN through the bottom of the jar.  It illuminates the space adding even more visual interest.  I try to keep the tape and CelluClay to a minimum on the underside of the jar.  To cast light both up and down, I taped two LED votive candles end to end.  

This is not an afternoon project.  I worked on mine over days, if not more.  It takes time for things to dry.  And if you're like me, you'll keep thinking of new ways to make it cool thus drawing it out longer.  But man is it worth it.  I still can't believe I made something so cool!

Be safe, we'll be haunting together soon...I feel it.

211 days till Halloween...

My daughter knocked this one over, snapping all the sticks
above the lip of the jar.  After a cry, I got some wood glue and
got to work.  You would have never known, would you?