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Hands Occupied

Colorful knitting, crochet, latch hook and macrame from craft book author & designer Heidi Gustad.

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My Family’s Crafts: Silver Clarinet Lamp

October 25, 2012 3 Comments

My Family's Crafts: Metal Clarinet Lamp | HandsOccupied.com

This week, I shared how to hang a giant map with an easy dowel & binder clip DIY project anyone can do. I also asked you for some advice to help improve my living room decor, and this lamp was in the pictures I shared. Many house guests ask me about this lamp, so I thought I’d share its story.

Yes, it’s a real clarinet. Silver clarinets used to be common, and this one belonged to my great-grandma on my mom’s dad’s side. This was the high school band instrument of three generations in our family. I was very into music in high school, and even majored in oboe for a year in college.

I ended up inheriting a lot of band and other instruments over the years, including this clarinet. Since I’m not a clarinetist, I didn’t really need this for playing, but my oboe teacher had a really cool oboe-turned lamp in her house that I always admired. My late grandpa converted this into a lamp for me for Christmas one year, and it’s been a fixture in my house ever since.

Filed Under: Home Decor, Vintage Crafts Tagged With: diy, lamp, my family's crafts, repurpose, silver clarinet, wiring

About Heidi

Heidi Gustad is a craft book author, designer & creator specializing in yarn crafts like knitting, crochet, latch hook & macramé. Her first book, Latch Hook: 12 Projects for the Modern Maker, is out now.

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Comments

  1. Ilene

    May 10, 2014 at 8:28 pm

    Do you know where I can get an oboe lamp? I would like to buy one for my son.
    Thanks.

    Reply
    • Heidi

      May 12, 2014 at 7:34 pm

      Hi Ilene! Sorry, I don’t – my grandpa made me this out of my Great-Grandma’s clarinet. I was an oboist, and my teacher in high school had her dad make her an oboe lamp out of a thrift store find. Maybe check Etsy? Best of luck!

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Decorating with Musical Instruments - HomeLyst Blog says:
    November 20, 2014 at 4:00 am

    […] If your former instrument was a clarinet, you can give it a second chance and turn it into a table lamp. The picture below is a great example. It was a present to Heidi from her grandfather and you can read more about its story here. […]

    Reply

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Heidi Gustad from Hands Occupied / Craft Book Author and Knitting, Crochet, Latch Hook and Macrame Designer

Hi! I’m Heidi (she/her/hers), a craft book author & pattern designer specializing in knitting, crochet, latch hook & macrame. Really anything with yarn! ❤️  My work combines vintage and modern design elements, featuring bold colors and graphic motifs.

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Weekend knitting design aftermath. Remember kids, Weekend knitting design aftermath. Remember kids, it’s always good to stop, swatch and block it. 🧶
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I started by removing general clutter & returning straggler supplies from various WIPs, videos & design deadlines to their homes. Next, I hung a third peg board in the space - this one is mostly for display and less for organizing tools or projects. For the first time ever, I’m displaying projects from my book, plus a couple other faves. (The best thing about designing more yarn crafts besides knit & crochet is that I have some really fun -and delightfully pettable 😆- samples around.) I finished by adding a square dowel to my small supply storage tower to keep it from tipping over, plus re-arranging and de-cluttering the closet. 
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This cleaner space already has me feeling so much more creative and less overwhelmed. Now to find a safe spot in the basement for the tower of project samples in Rubbermaid tubs I liberated from my WIPs closet. Also why are there five?! 
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