DIY Lamp Shade

As cheesy as it sounds, taking something I already own - but not necessarily liked - and transforming it into something usable gets me giddy. Really. Giddy.  It's the little things in life, right?

When we were in Columbia, SC setting up the 2nd Wedding 101 location (!), I was set with the task of updating a couple of lamps that had already been purchased.   We all agreed that the bases were great.  The shades weren't quite cutting it, though.  While we could have bought a couple of new shades, all the ones we liked (sweet floral details, very shabby chic) were fairly expensive.  So I decided to try and update the old shades to better match the rest of the studio.

(typical disclaimer: sorry about the iphone pics :>)

1.) Wrap original lampshade in burlap.  I cut the burlap with about 1/2 inch overlap on both sides. 

2.) Hot glue the burlap all the way down the seam where the fabric ends meet.  Then start to tuck under the ends and glue as you go. (***Using a drum shade that has equal widths on top and bottom makes this project much easier.  However, I also made a new shade for one that tapered in at the top...I'll show you that next).

3.)  Wrap chocolate brown decorative ribbon (ours had tiny pleats in it - adorable!) around center of shade. Glue at ends.

4.) Tie bow and glue to ribbon.

5.) Add decorative element.   We chose a bronze-y gold brooch to bring a little bling.

6.) Put lamp back together!

Above you can see the new lamp shade on the left.  This was taken during set up.

  

And finally, the new lamp in the finished space!

The following lampshade is tapered - the width at the top is smaller than at the bottom.  It makes it slightly more difficult to wrap fabric around, but we just made little gathers at the top of the shade to combat it....

This shade was made using the fabric flowers I used in our DIY Picnic Wedding Style Shoot...remember these?  You can make them out of any fabric, they are very easy, and look so beautiful!

What have you spruced up at home lately?

xo,

k