Teach Me Tuesday: Embellish a Store Bought Lampshade

Welcome to Teach Me Tuesday! I spend a lot of time each week reading all of the great DIY tips out there in Blogland. Because there are so many fabulous projects that I can’t wait to try, I figured that it would be fun to feature some of my very favorites here each Tuesday.

If you would like to be featured in an upcoming edition of Teach Me Tuesday, please email me at LivingWithLindsay@gmail.com and we’ll chat!

This week’s Teach Me Tuesday features the darling Amanda of Serenity Now. Who else sees Frank C0stanza in their mind when they visit her blog? Serenity now! Serenity now!

Ahem. Anyway, Amanda is a lot of fun and rights about the things she does to keep her self sane as a stay-at-home-mom of two. It apparently involves a lot of thrift store shopping and a healthy dose of one of the best TV shows out there, So You Think You Can Dance. Now you see why I like her, huh?

Amanda recently put together a tutorial on a totally adorable and super easy lamp shade embellishment. It is so sassy that I just had to show it to you. She explains:

Okay, I have a confession…I do not have a doctorate in lamp shade embellishing. I don’t even have an undergrad in that sort of thing. I think I skimmed that chapter in Forster’s Howards End.

I don’t even have a syllabus for y’all, but I do have some pictures, so I hope you’ll stick around! This was my first time embellishing a lamp shade, but I like the end results.

I picked up this lamp shade a few weeks ago at Wal-Mart for my new craft/work area. (I know we’ve been over how ick WM can be, but I have found that their newish Better Homes & Gardens line is worth the trip to the gates of hell the store and back.) I think I spent $9 to $10 on the shade.

Here she is perched on the new lamp, also from BH&G.; Okay looking, but just kind of “meh.”

Miss Shade had a rendezvous with my friend Fabri-Tac adhesive and a spool of black ribbon that I had left over from my desk makeover. I love Fabri-Tac because a little goes a long way. I’ve had this bottle since last Fall, and I’ve used it for several big projects. It still sticks to your fingers like hot glue, but you don’t get burned. It also holds. Very well.

I started with the back of the shade on the seam and just started putting small amounts of the adhesive, pressing down gently as I went along.

Um, this is where I admit that I am still a crafter-in-training. It didn’t occur to me until I had several inches glued down that the ribbon would start to pucker at the top as it tried to curve with the shade. (blushing)

No matter. I devised a system to make some little faux “pleats.” I simply folded the ribbon back in the opposite direction, putting a tiny dot of glue in between the two layers.

Then I folded it back again, created a little bubbly pleat thing. Maybe there is a design word for it. As your professor, I ought to know this, but I don’t. I started measuring every 4 1/2 to 5 inches and putting one of those little pleat thingies in to keep the ribbon from puckering at the top.

At one point, I ran out of the length of ribbon I had cut because I didn’t measure it.

Why?

Because that would involve math, and I hate math.

So I just started a bubble pleat (I’ve coined a new term!) where I ran out of ribbon, and no one will be the wiser. Except you.

When I got back to the back seam, I just ended it with another pleat.

Not done yet! I didn’t like the way this looked. It needed a little something more…

I know! Buttons! I chose black (had some in my craft stash) because I didn’t want to go overboard.

I put the tiniest drop of Fabri-Tac on the back of each button and glued them on the flat part of each bubble pleat.

Like so!

Close-up with lamp base:

Voila!

I like it, for a first try! It was just a little too plain for me in the “before” shot.

Total cost of the makeover? $0.00!!!

I’m gonna finish that Lamp Shade undergrad and move on to a masters, I think!

I give you all an “A” for sticking with me, but if you want extra credit, you have to send me some more buttons.

And a chocolate cake.

{Now, go be creative!}

Isn’t that just too cute? I love the ribbon, and I really love how Amanda got creative with the pleats to solve her problem. Great work, Amanda!