Thrifty Flag Stand

I have a fabric flag on a wooden pole; it's the kind that you hang outside your house on Memorial Day, the 4th of July and Veterans Day.   Since we just moved, the flag was rolled up and propped in a corner of our house just waiting for a home.  For reasons which I will elaborate on in tomorrow's post, it called to me to remain in this part of our house but to be elevated to new heights and to become a focal point.

To become a focal point, this flag with a 4' pole needed to have a stand.  As I was contemplating where I could get a flag stand, I turned around and encountered the stuff I put aside to donate to Goodwill.  Amongst that stuff was a floor lamp with a broken switch.  It has been lately used as a hat stand in my husband's office. 

This floor lamp was constructed with several sections of metal tubing that screw together.  That's how they get a tall floor lamp in a short box.  Here is the floor lamp partially deconstructed:

I think there were four sections of metal tubing that make up the pole.  I chose to keep two sections. 

Now, the wooden flag pole is the same diameter as the lamp pole.  That meant I couldn't slide one inside the other.  After considering several options, I decided that I needed some PVC pipe with an inside diameter just a tad larger than the diameter of the flag and lamp poles.

This meant a quick trip to Home Depot!!  I love Home Depot!!  And I have a gift card to Home Depot!!

I decided to take along a small section of lamp pole to make sure I got the right thing.  In order to do that, I had to cut the cord that runs through the lamp:

Which I did.  Then I pulled the cord out from the plug end to get it out of the way and because my husband said he wants to keep it.

See that short length of metal pole?  That's what I took to Home Depot. 

I found the perfect size of PVC pipe and it was only just over a dollar for 10'.  I asked an orange-aproned gentleman to cut the pipe to 7' and 3' lengths.  I had already measured and determined that 7' would be the perfect length to slip over the lamp pole and to slip the flag pole into. 

On the way home I figured that I might need to paint the PVC pipe but that I would see if I could just turn the pipe so the writing was on the back side.

That's exactly what I did.  Here is the finished product!:

I now have a flag stand for my flag and can keep it on display year round.  Which is nice because I'm patriotic and because my three boys are all serving our country in the Army. 

God Bless our Troops!  (just had to add that because I'm proud of my boys)

So there is my really neat project that cost exactly $1.39 because I already had the flag and the old floor lamp.  How's that for thrifty?

Please come back tomorrow to see why I needed a flag stand and why it needed to be elevated to new heights . . .

Cindy

I'm linking up to the following parties:

My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia's Tuesday's Treasures

The Shabby Nest's Frugal Friday

Fingerprints on the Fridge's Feature Yourself Friday

The Tattered Tag's Keep It Simple Sunday