DIY Galaxy Desk Lamp

This week’s assignment for me was one that I’m super excited about. I’m totally about the DIY painted galaxy trend. In fact, I made some Easter eggs painted to look like little galaxies that went viral. Yep, my little galaxy Easter eggs got over 150,000 views in only 3 days. That was super cool!

Now I liked the galaxy trend before, but after this little blogging hit I am IN LOVE with the galaxy trend 🙂 I’m painting up shoes and whosits and whatsits and it’s fab! And since my assignment was simply “something” I spent quite a bit of time thinking of what would be the perfect thing in the perfect room to do up space-style.

And then I thought about the kids. The whole reason I made the eggs was for them, so something for their home desk would be awesome for them. Since it was Friday, and that’s the big garage sale day here in Oklahoma (yes, I know people are at work but it is THE day to get out and put other people’s junk in your trunk… trust me) and found nothing that would work. Luckily inside of Family Dollar, I found a simple little black lamp for $6. Perfect!

For this project you will need:

• black desk lamp
• acrylic paints in a variety of colors
• sponge brushes
• spray polyurethane or sealer
• paper towels
• masking tape
• spray bottle or stiff brush

First up you’ll need to tape off anything you don’t want to get paint on. I taped off a couple of inches of cord, the inside of the shade, and the power switch.

You’ll need a variety of acrylic paints. Since I am all packed up to move I had to go buy new paints. In the end, I did NOT use the light teal, called the Caribbean, but I did use all of the rest.

For this project, you’re going to apply very small amounts of paint in a layered fashion. Each time you load up your brush you just need the tiniest amount.

First, apply your darkest color. Here mine is a dark-ish teal. Allow to dry in between each color as the project progresses.

Followed by blue.

Next purple.

And ending with pink.

The application hardly needs to be perfect. Imperfect edges and shapes seem to look the best in all honesty!

Now it’s time to splatter paint! In a spray bottle put some of your black paint in and the tiniest amount of water. Shake well and test on a piece of paper from different distances to see which gives you the best spatter. Spray until you’re happy with the coverage, but be forewarned you’re going to splatter white next so don’t go too crazy.

If you don’t want to use a spritzer you can flick watered down paint from a stiff brush.

Take a paper towel (this one is used from earlier in the project and that’s totally fine) and crinkle it up. Dip slightly into gold paint and apply some shimmer to your developing galaxy. I typically like a few tiny spots and one more robust area like you can see above.

Now it’s time for the stars… splatter paint with your white to create stars. NOW I didn’t practice my technique and I watered my paint down way too much so I have lots and lots of stars! But it’s all good!

To finish seal this baby up with a clear sealer from the craft store or spray polyurethane and remove the tape once dry.

And you might want to go kind of heavy with the sealer. If I know anything it’s that kids like to pick and scratch the paint off of things!

Allison

A crafter since her earliest years, Allison spends a little time every day making something. She crafts, sews, paints, glues things onto other things, and is a firm believer that a life spent creating is a life worth living. Visit Allison’s blog, Dream {a Little} BIGGER.