Feminine Lampshade Makeover in 4 Steps

Hello everyone!

Today I'm sharing a lampshade makeover that I did by just using items that were already in my craft room. I considered buying a fancy-shaped lampshade that I could add lace, fringe and pearls to embellish, but I like to upcycle and it seemed a waste of money and a perfectly good lamp shade to not just redo it. I didn't add fringe and peals to this lampshade since it has simple lines. I wanted to keep it clean looking. I also didn't want to block the wonderful lighting it provides now. I haven't decided what I want to do with the base, but the old stained shade had to go. 

I'll walk you through the steps I took.

In the first photo you can see I made a huge mistake. I tried washing my old lampshade and it just left it stained and ugly. I should have known better, but live and learn.

Step #1 Remove the old ugly fabric

I was more than happy to rid myself of the drab color that made the light a very yellowish-orange. Not good for a craft room. I started by removing the decorative strips from the top and bottom of the lampshade.

In the photo below the top strip has already been removed and I'm pulling the bottom one off. I was surprised how easily I could remove them and that they were just glued on. Note: I didn't pull the strips off while it was on the lamp base.

If I covered my lampshade without removing the old fabric it would just block more light and I was afraid the stain would show through. So I used my Xacto knife and a pair of scissors to get down to the bare bones of my lampshade. After cutting the material away I was a bit fearful of what I was going to do next. As usual I didn't plan ahead.

  

Step #2 Prepare your new fabric

 I found some taffeta fabric I had gotten from a friend. Just about any fabric can be used. This fabric tears quite easily once you make a small slit with scissors at the top. The sides of the fabric strips will fray a little, but I liked the fringe-like effect it gave. I also ended up with some webs of thread that I had to pull away. It was like working with hot glue and getting those little strings.
The first strips I made were too big and wouldn't lay well so I tore them in half which gave me 1 and 3/4 inch strips. They worked perfectly. I chose to do strips because it seemed to be the easiest route to take with the fabric I had.

Step #3 Hot glue your fabric to your lampshade skeleton and wrap

Unfortunately I didn't take any photos of wrapping the fabric on the wire skeleton of the lampshade, so here I used a piece of card board to illustrate. First I used hot glue to attach the fabric to the top wire frame and let my fabric hang down the front. Then I went under the front bottom edge (wrapping) of the lampshade and slightly angled the fabric in the back so the next time I pulled the fabric down the front it would be moved over revealing half of the first strip.

I could have stopped here once I was done wrapping the fabric, but I wanted to personalize my lampshade. I wanted something feminine and not having the edges trimmed would have driven me crazy.

Step #4 Decide the theme of you lampshade and embellish

I chose the ribbon and laces I wanted to use and hot glued them on.

I also attached a lace flower I made.

Now I have a new lampshade that produces a soft white light, makes my room brighter and fits with theme of my new craft room.In the photo the shade appears shiner than it does in person as the camera picked up reflection.

 This is how my lamp shade appears when the light is turned on.

Happy Crafting!

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