The last few weeks I have been working my butt off trying to get ready for an art show that will be over Labor Day weekend. With that and a few other irons in the fire, I have been trying to stay super focused. And that has been working out well…for the most part. Every once in a while, a silly and simple project latches onto my brain and won’t let go. In this case, it’s a lamp.
While we were on vacation, I got a few things at Ikea, including an LED hanging lamp cord. I didn’t buy a shade for it because by the time we got to the lamp section, the kids were really starting to lose it. After my husband got me a new rug and I rearranged my studio I created a new drawing area that needs some new lighting. And that’s where my brain locked onto a lampshade that I bought two years ago. I wanted to make something really fun and not polished looking. And of course, it had to be free.
This lamp thing has been stuck in my head so badly that I finally caved in and did something with it. The first thing I did was coat the inside with green and blue glitter. I love glitter but compromising with my non-glitter-loving husband means limited glitter use in the house. Since I will be sitting below this shade, I will be able to see all that sparkly goodness regularly. After the paint dried, I drew a bunch of circles and cut them out.
Next, I hit up my stash of fabric scraps. Red, orange, purple, pink and yellow scraps were all pulled out. Using the circles I cut out as guides, I made rough circles just larger than the holes. I put a small bead on glue around each circle on the inside of the lamp and placed each piece of fabric carefully over each hole. For a final touch, I added a border or gold and silver paint around each hole. I also added red, yellow and orange bands to the top and bottom.
This is nowhere as complete as I want it, but it’s a really good starting point. Later I want to add more glitter inside, some layers of tissue over the white parts outside, maybe even some sort of trim along the bottom edge. But this little bit of side crafting got the project off my mind for now. Plus, I managed to stash bust AND make something for myself. Overall, a decent day.
daydreamhouse 