Tuesday Tips, Tricks And Timesavers

Hello crafty people! Here's an easy and fun project that's half rainy-afternoon craft, half Extreme Makeover: Home Edition! Armed with a pot of Mod-Podge, some designer papers and a lamp shade and base kit, the possibilities for creative design are endless!

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Start with the plain lampshade. Paint the top and bottom edges in the color of your choice (Girly suggestion: hot pink!). While the paint is still wet, roll the lampshade across a sheet of old, unwanted newspaper, using a pencil to mark the start- and end-points. Cut this section out, you now have the template for the shape of the shade. The newspaper template can be cut into as many sections as you want (I made 3 sections, cutting from top to bottom). Use the template to cut your pieces out of cardstock or paper. My three pieces each looked like this:

Once you have your sections cut out (and have double-checked that they will fit) apply Mod-Podge to the part of the lampshade being covered. I prefer a paintbrush to a foam brush, but both will work. Stick the paper to the shade, making sure to smooth out any bubbles or wrinkles before it dries. Continue until all sections are covered. Leave the covered shade to dry completely several hours before going back to apply a finishing Mod-Podge coat. 

Use the same technique for covering the base. Rather than using large pieces of paper, I used a square punch and covered the base with smaller squares of paper, overlapping each other. The possibilities are endless!

You can add flair to a basic paper-covered lampshade with ribbon, stickers, acrylic paint, buttons, stamps, fabric -- anything you can get your hands on!

Send us pictures of your completed lampshades or, better yet, bring them by Patch Multi-Crafts to put them on display!! 

Happy crafting!