DIY Lampshade Face-lifts

Hello all!

So, I don't know if you've been there, but I have had the worst crafter's block these last couple weeks. You know... no motivation, no ideas, procrastination... the usual. 

I decided to try to get myself back into the swing of things. 

If you ever find yourself in that boat, either take a break from it or try to make something just for fun, no special occasion required. :)

Just do something you enjoy, to remind you that it's fun to be creative!

Here is the new friend I made to help break me out of my rut:

Not sure who will own this little deer, but she was fun to make. :)

After getting a little crafting energy back, I started looking around the house to see if anything needed fixing or updating.  I found two lamps with incredibly sad, dingy and tired lampshades.  

Lampshades aren't cheap, so I wanted to find a way to give these two a face-lift.

-------------------------------------------------

I scanned Pinterest for ideas, and found this great post from Mari Makes.

Check out the link below for this great tutorial!

"Well Defined Lampshade" Tutorial from Mari Makes

I decided to warm up by trying out this tutorial for one of my seen-better-days-lampshades.  Instead of a vintage dictionary, I used my Spanish-English dictionary... who doesn't like educational redecorating??

If you need to look up a word in Spanish that starts with the letters A-G, just come check out my lamp. :)

-------------------------------------------------

Next, I wanted to make-over another lampshade by changing out its tired trim for a new trim I made from fabric.

Materials:

-Plain lampshade, any size would work!

-Fun fabric to make trim 

-Iron

-Hot glue

Ok, this is pretty simple, and you probably don't even need a tutorial. :)  But here we go anyways!

1-- Strip your lampshade of any previous trim. I was able to just sort of tear it off without damaging the shade fabric underneath.

2-- Select your fabric! For the trim, I actually used a fabric napkin I bought at Target a few years ago.  You never know where you'll find a great print! I've used pretty fabric napkins from World Market and Target several times for throw pillows, artwork.... and now, a lampshade. :)

You could certainly use any fabric you like, but the fabric napkin has the added benefit of having finished edges which I used on the lamp too.  Reduce, reuse, recycle, right?  Nothing is wasted!

3-- Determine the width of the trim you want for your lampshade.  For the bottom trim of this shade, I cut strips that were 2" wide and used the lines on the print to make sure each strip showed the same view of that print.

4-- Use the iron to fold in the raw edges.  I folded 1/2" in on each side to leave 1" wide trim with no raw edges showing.

5-- For the vertical seams and the top of this lampshade, I wanted a smaller trim.  You could just cut a smaller width of fabric (maybe 1 or 1.5") and repeat the same process as for the 1" wide trim.  Since the fabric napkins had finished edges that were ~1/2", I just cut out the the finished edges, trimming them so no raw edges from the fabric would be visible.  No ironing necessary for these because the manufacturer already did the work for me!

6-- Now it's time to start applying the trim. I think you could do this in any order, but I started with the vertical seam trim, then the bottom and top.  

Use hot glue sparingly to apply the trim.  Some thinner fabrics or ribbon could show the lumps and bumps from hot glue, but this fabric concealed it well.

Time for the bottom of the shade...

Whenever you finish one section of trim, just fold over the end, to hide the raw edge, and glue it.

The corners of this shade were a little tricky; I tried to make it work, lining up the trim with the bottom of the shade and cinching the fabric on the tapered corners.

 Last step: use the last of the ready-made trim from the napkin for the top of the shade.

  

I think this would work well with any shape/size lampshade.  Just follow the curves and lines of the shade, and have fun!  

Done!

Crafter's block reversed! (for now)

Thanks for reading!

Keepsake Paper Ornaments

Hello again!

Before we get into this week's craft, I just have to brag on my mom for a second.  Let's be honest, any crafty genes in me came directly from her. :-)  Check out her Sharpie ornaments!

The pictures don't do these ornaments justice!  They are so awesome! :)

Ok, now on to this week!

The inspiration for the ornament project this week was also courtesy of Martha Stewart's Handmade Holiday Crafts. 

I have a theory that Martha Stewart secretly doesn't want me to be able to make what she makes.  That being said, the instructions for this ornament were pretty confusing.  Luckily for me, I had some awesomely talented guest-crafters for these paper ornaments who figured it out together. (Thanks Danielle, Jamie and Kylie!!)

These ornaments are great for leftover Christmas cards you have; (it's SO hard to throw those away!)  This is also a great project to use those pretty papers that you don't want to throw away, but also have no idea how to re-use, like wedding invitations or programs, birthday cards, or kid's artwork. 

The final product is beautiful, and would certainly make a great gift! 

What you'll need:

-Hole punch or scissors

-Card stock or paper (You will need enough for 20 circles)

-Pencil and ruler

-Glue stick or hot glue

-Ribbon for hanging

Ok, here we go! After my lovely friends finished their ornaments using Christmas-themed scrapbook paper, I tried one of my own using some of my 200 leftover wedding invitations. (Sometimes buying in bulk is not the answer.)  So, you'll see pictures of both!

You can use a craft circle punch in almost any size, or trace a drinking glass to determine your circle size.  Obviously, the bigger your circles are, the bigger the finished ornament will be. Our ornaments were made using a 2.5" circle punch.  Martha suggests a 1.25" circle punch, but you can work with whatever you have!  You need 20 circles for each ornament.

Once the circles are cut, use a ruler to draw an equilateral triangle on the back of each ornament. For the 2.5" circles, each triangle side was 5.25cm.  The triangle drawing is tedious, but it is helpful in the long run.  If you have helpers, an assembly line works best! :)

THANK YOU DANIELLE.

Use the triangle lines to fold each side up. (towards the right side) I found that using the edge of a table/counter helped make the folding a lot easier. 

And now you have 20 folded little circles waiting for glue!  If you're using hot glue, go ahead and get it warm; otherwise, pull out the glue stick! 

You could glue these in a few different orders, but here is what worked for us.  Start with one group of five circles; think of this as the top of the ornament.  

Use glue to attach one flap of each folded circle to the next circle; make sure the edges are lining up.  If the triangles you drew were a little bit off, don't worry.  Just keep lining up the outer edges of the circle flaps and you can adjust the folds as you go.  The triangles should be pointing in the same direction.

If you use just a little bit of hot glue, the seams  are  tight, and the project moves much more quickly!

^^^This will be your test for your completed ornament--- at each "intersection" of triangles, you should see 5 pieces! 

Repeat this with another set of 5 circles; think of this as the bottom of the ornament.

Now you have 10 triangles left that will form the band around the middle of the ornament.  

Take the top or bottom section of the ornament and start gluing the middle band, one piece at a time, with the triangles alternating pointing up and down.  

I used a straight pin to mark the center of the "top" section of five triangles.  This helped me stay on track as I was attaching the middle section, piece by piece.

As you work your way around, keep checking to make sure you have 5 triangles in each "intersection."

Now all you will need to add is the bottom section.

One flap at a time, attach the bottom section of five circles.  

View of the inside before attaching the bottom section of five.

Time to start gluing!  Adjust the folds as you go, but make sure to keep lining up the edges.

Before you glue your final flaps together, knot a length ribbon or string and insert it in the gap.  Apply the glue, squeeze the pieces together and pull the ribbon until it is secure under the glued flaps. 

If you look closely, you can see baby Edie supervising. :-)

Done!

Yay Kylie!

Jamie and Baby Jones made one too!

Wedding Invitation Keepsake :) (3 years later, and it's still fun to make wedding ornaments!)

I think these would also look cute hanging anywhere in your home--- it is kind of like mistletoe!

Get some paper and glue, and have some fun!