Hideous metal find, turned lamp

Recently I've seen a couple different versions of a project I wanted to try. I just love the idea of these Cutey Can Lights and these Tin Can 4th Craft lights. I've been slowly starting to redo my kitchen and living room and have been hoping to work something like that into the design, but really didn't need another hanging light. And of course I didn't have any big empty cans laying around either so I figured it was something to just file for now...

But then! This weekend I was out hitting some garage sales and thrift stores with a friend of mine and found this...

(Not the lamp, the crazy ugly metal thingy on the left!) Totally hideous, but for $3.50 it saved me the trouble of having to drill holes in anything. Yay! The lamp I found for cheap and it fit perfectly under the metal thing (have no idea what its original purpose was). I just used wire cutters to cut a small hole on the bottom edge, just big enough for the lamp cord to fit through.

Then I found this lovely spray paint...

I didn't want the thing to look too new and I was hoping the "hammered" texture of the paint would help it not be too shiny. I also spray painted the bottom part of the lamp itself so that the white wouldn't show through. I like the final outcome...

...and even more, I found a touch-dimmer thingy to plug it into so I could put it up high and not have to take the cover off to turn it on (most expensive part of the project at $10, but worth every penny)...

Love the way it makes patterns on my hideous popcorn ceiling. Did you know that not only is the popcorn hideous, but it has GLITTER in it. Yes. Glitter. Did I mention we're renting... ugh.

So anyway, I love my new lamp, but think he's lonely up there... I'll be on the look out for a couple things to keep him company up on my armoire.