Saturday, August 6, 2011

DIY Lampshade Love

 I've spent these past few weeks crafting working away between school, and helping my Mom out at her office until she finds some new people to hire. So my crafting & creating time has been limited non existent.  On Friday after I got home from work Mr. Carman went out on a guys night and left me the entire apartment to myself! I love having time to craft and he knew I really needed the break. He even got me a new glue gun since mine has mysteriously disappeared, I might have left it at the beach house? Anyway, I used this night free of responsibilities to show my lampshades in the living room some love.
 Now we've had these lamps for a little over a year, the brown went with our original bedroom decor. When I redid the bedroom I snagged the shades from the living room and swapped them out. Yes...I have the same lamps in two different rooms of our apartment. You see our apartment is quirky, we only have lights in the bathroom, dinning area, and kitchen. So we registered for lamps that emitted tons of light. Anyway, I have never been happy with the brown lampshades in the living room, but they worked and sorta kinda matched. This is what we started out with.
Not bad, definitely lacking the wow factor. 

Supplies
  • Hot Glue Gun
  • Fabric {I used 4 yards of burlap}
  • Scissors
  • Lampshade
 This entire project was  just at $12.00, for both lampshades... that's $6 a shade, so much cheaper than buying new ones.  I began by cutting my fabric into strips. I cut two inch strips, but you can change it to get the results that you want.
  After cutting them into strips go ahead and plug in your glue gun. Now you want to fold the fabric almost like an accordion.
  Then you want to put glue on the lampshade, I started at the top of the lampshade and worked piece by piece.
   Then you place your accorded  fabric on the lampshade. Continue repeating the process until you have completely covered your lampshade.
Tada rustic, and cute.
  Now it may not seem that wonderful to you, but to me it is beyond lovely. Here is a before and after shot, so that you can fully appreciate the difference.
  Amazing right? It's a little shabby a little modern. I just love the crackle base. I'm thinking about taking it apart and painting it. What do you guys think, I would love some input on this idea.
   Ahh so much cuter. I'm hoping to take a new full shot of the living room and update the our apartment tab. I am also hard at work brainstorming dinning area swag. Once again suggestions, or ideas welcome.