Using things for something other than that for which they were intended

Creative people do this all the time. I keep hearing about scraps from this industry, or rejected items from that. And I want to turn them into lamps. I forsee a time, in the near future, when I'll be making lamps again...hard-core. I've missed this for a while, and I'm working on freeing up some of my time. More on that later. But for now, I'm thinking of all the funky things I can combine to create lamp bases. No telling how long it'll be before you can see them, but I promise to share when I have some finished.