Lampshade Remakes | Family Economics

By Cathe

Sometimes the simplest things can make the biggest impact. So, when decorating a room, consider the many things you can do to dress up a basic, non-pleated lampshade! Here are a few of my favorites:

•    Trim a lampshade in vintage fabric bias tape that you can make yourself!

•    Tack vintage slides or family photos printed on vellum to the outside of a white lampshade allowing light to glow through them. You can also suspend vintage slide frames from jump rings around the bottom edge of the lampshade.

•    Using hot glue, tack collections of items to the lampshade. You can use silk flower blooms, seashells, tinsel garland, feather boas, vintage prize ribbons, scrapbook embellishments, buttons and more! To avoid heat hazards, always be careful not to allow any embellishment pieces to hang over into the lampshade opening at the top.

•    Purchase do-it-yourself lampshades with adhesive surface at the fabric store. Cover with fabric, wallpaper, your child’s artwork, book pages, scrapbook paper, any textile or paper that will coordinate with your room.

•    Remove the lampshade, tack lace around the outside perimeter as a stencil and spray paint with a favorite color. Remove lace to reveal a beautiful effect.

•    Use craft store stencils and beautiful hues of acrylic craft paint to add subtle touches to your solid-color lampshades.

•    Glue embroidered script letters of your initials to the front of a lampshade to custom monogram.

•    Trim top and bottom lampshade circumferences with beaded costume jewelry necklace strands.

Have you ever decorated a lampshade?