Vintage and found objects make ideal accessories, but eventually you’ll run out of display space. Make your flea market finds earn their keep by transforming them into table lamps. Drill straight through the piece and hide the wiring inside, or mount in on a decorative base in front of a slender metal rod. Here are 13 flea market finds you can turn into table lamps:

1. Painted Tins

Painted metal tins come in all shapes, sizes, colors, and patterns.

Some feature bold, graphic text and images advertising their original contents. Use a single vintage tin for your table lamp base, or place them in a stack from large to small.

You can also make hanging lamps from painted tins.

2. Pottery and Ceramics

Whether a wheel-turned pot or a slab-built sculpture, handmade pottery is ideal for making lamps. Glazed ceramic pieces made from molds work well too.

Stan and Gwen from Carpenter & Carpenter Designs found a pyramid-shaped pottery piece made from clay comedy and tragedy masks for just $10 in a Memphis junk store. After they had the piece wired as a lamp and added a striking shade, their bargain pottery look liked a million bucks.

3. Minerals,Crystals, and Rocks

Minerals, crystals, and rocks make lovely, dramatic table lamps suitable for a variety of decorating styles. Split geode lamps look particularly striking. Other options include citrine, clear quartz or amethyst. Try a chunk of natural turquoise if you don't want any sparkle, or even a pile of smooth river stones for a rustic look.

For a similar effect, make your lamp base from a branch of coral for a similar effect, even though it's a fossil instead of a mineral.

4. Canisters and Cookie Jars

If you can't find a complete set of old kitchen canisters, turn a single canister into a table lamp. You can use glass, ceramic, metal or enamel. Look for something special, such as a pastel pink canister lettered in French.

Vintage cookie jars are another fun find to use for table lamps, the kitschier the better. Designer Don Pritchard's Shawnee Puss N' Boots jar is a good example. If you use a collectible piece in pristine condition, use a reversible mount instead of drilling it.

5. Candlesticks and Candelabra

Most candlesticks are already shaped like lamp bases -- hence the term candlestick lamp -- so converting them into electric lamps isn't much of a stretch. You can use thin or thick candlesticks made from metal, porcelain, or wood.

6. Figurines

Figural table lamps are nothing new, but you create your own version using flea market figurines. Your options include fine bronzes, elegant blanc de chine, and dainty porcelain. For the retro look favored by some of today's most notable designers, consider using animal figurines, from foo dogs to the stylized ceramic horses from the 1960s.

7. Scientific Instruments

Indulge your mad scientist side by making table lamps from old scientific instruments, such as a microscope or set of scales. Many of the pieces are heavy enough to make sturdy lamp bases, and you'll end up with a statement piece ideal for industrial or eclectic interiors.

8. Cigar Boxes

For a table lamp that looks good with interiors ranging from country to contemporary, slide a slender metal rod through a graduated stack of wooden cigar boxes. The natural wood makes the lamp earthy enough for the most rustic room, but the stacked rectangular shapes make the lamp appear almost sculptural.

9. Tripods

For an architectural look, use a vintage wooden tripod as your lamp base. Lighting manufacturers have reproduced the look for years, and they command high prices for their versions. Newer metal tripods work just fine as well. Top either version with a squatty barrel shade. You can also use a taller tripod for a floor lamp.

10. Vases and Vessels

Vases and other vertical vessels -- such as a pitcher, a ginger jar, or even an old coffee pot -- are obvious choices for lamp bases. You can use pieces made from crystal, colored glass, metal, ceramic, or fine porcelain. The pieces are easy to find. In a single flea market trip, you can find spot something to suit almost any style.

11. Architectural Salvage

Do your bit to preserve vintage architecture by transforming architectural salvage into a lamp. Try a single corbel, a cluster of banister spindles, or wrap a tin ceiling tile around a rectangular pedestal of wood.

12.Chinaand Dinnerware

Flea markets are full of delicate china in dainty patterns, but there's only so much you can use at your table at any given time. Turn some of those offerings into table lamps perfect for shabby chic or cottage interiors. You can make your lamp base from a single teapot or tureen. Or, stack a mismatched collection of teacups, saucers, and dessert plates into a tea-party table lamp. "Country Living" magazine has a tutorial on its website.

13. Machine Parts

Turn any old machine part of the right size and shape into a table lamp with an industrial feel. Finish it with a hardtack shade covered in coarse-woven burlap. For the Neo-Victorian, Steampunk look, build your own imaginary machine -- a machine-part sculpture -- from an assortment or gears, dials, hoses and other interesting parts.