Lampshade Craft Project.
Why I Need A Lampshade Craft Project.
I needed little lamp shades for my small chandelier. The shade I was looking at cost $14.99 each, so much money. I had to have 4 of them. Wal-Mart had plain white shades for $3.98. The shades were 6-inch diameter, 5 inches high. Great, just what I need but I didn't want plain white I had to figure out how to make them look better and this idea came to me. I decided to find a way to make some cheap crafty lampshades out of the little white shades. This is a how-to on how to cover these shades
I don't mind mix and match so I didn't mind using different stripes of fabric. You can see from some of my other hubs how I like to mix and match. The shades were even cheaper at our home improvement store.
Items needed for making lampshades.
For this project you will need:
♦Elmers Glue
♦Two small bowls
♦Measuring spoons
♦Small paint brush
♦Scissors
♦Lamp shade
♦Fabric.
How To:
My lamp shade is a small shade for a chandelier.
Use different kinds of fabric for this project but if you’d rather you could stick with just one fabric.
It takes about 12-14 strips of fabric 2 inches wide and 12 inches long.
1 piece of fabric 1 ½ inch wide and 20 inches long. Check your fabric stash and use leftover fabric. Use whatever you have.
Cut your strips first. You can cut them or you can tear them whatever you want to do. THEY DO NOT HAVE TO BE PERFECT.
Mix your glue it takes about 1 tablespoon of glue to one tsp. of hot water mixed in one of your bowls. I didn't do more than 2 tablespoons at a time but if you want you can do more.
In the other bowl pour a little-undiluted glue; you will be using this with your paint brush.
Wet one stripe of fabric at a time. Then dip it into the glue, make sure it has glue all over but then hold it up between your fingers pull down to get rid of all the excess glue.
Take your strip and lay it on the shade fold over the top edge 2 inches. From the bottom fold your strip up the inside you’re of shade until you hit the top fabric that has been folded down. Smooth it down inside and out. Make sure the top and bottom edge are smooth and turned over tight. Smooth the strip and get all bubbles out. Once you have done this now take your paint brush and dip it in the undiluted glue. Paint the edges of the fabric to make sure they are laying down flat. Go all the way around your shade adding your strips. You will come to areas where your strips will be angled and leaving a gap, just add a strip over that gap. The strips will not be completely straight on the lamp. DON'T WORRY about that. They are not going to be straight they will overlap.
The glue will dry clear. This is a messy job. I did it on a counter where I knew I could get the glue off easily. The glue is washable and comes off of just about everything you use it on. I plan on doing 3 more shades. I don't worry about the ragged edges showing and I like the different fabric look. The ribbon is hard to see in these photos, but it is there. Remember when you put the ribbon on make sure the color you like in the fabric is at the end of the ribbon. I didn't do that and all the pretty colors I liked in the fabric ended up in the back.
Adding a Ribbon
When you’ve got all your strips on you can leave it this way if you want. I added the ribbon using my 20-inch piece of fabric. I cut angles on the tips of the ribbon. I soak it in the glue put it around my lampshade over the top of my strips. Then tie it in a double knot. Now you have a ribbon and you can shape it any way you want once the glue dries it will stay that way.
While the shade is drying keep checking it and make sure there are not bubbles and the edges are down. If you see bubbles smooth them out. You can paint on more glue if need be.
I put mine on a plastic place mat to dry. Don’t dry it on paper!
That’s it your shade is done. You could also do this on a big shade. It took about 24 hours to dry. When they're done drying they are very hard.
What the edges of the fabric looks like once glued down.
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Lampshade Craft Project.