Wednesday, May 5, 2010

A Funky Lamp Transformation and Tutorial

During my same Goodwill Dollar Day excursion last week, I picked up this fantastic lamp, marked $18.99 for one little eensy weensy dollar.  (Squeal!!)  The harp with a great brass finial to match the brasswork on the lamp was also a dollar, and the shade also a dollar.  Get out your calculators!  With the fabric, paint, and ribbon already on hand, that brings the total for this project to a whopping $3.  Shut up!!  I know!!!

Here’s her beginnings (I almost forgot to take the before pic!  You’ll notice I had already started pulling off the bottom trim):

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Check out that to-die-for brasswork on the base!!  LOVE!

I gave the glass on the base a coat of semi-gloss white, but what makes this project so unique is the shade.  (Now, I may or may not have designed the shade to tempt a certain cousin of mine who now owns the Springy Chair and Endtable.  It may just be that I have a ton of this fabric still and thinks it’s fabulous.  The world may never know…)

Here’s the beaut now:

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Another up-close look at that brasswork… GORGE!!!  (tm Thrifty Decor Chick)

In case any of you are wondering how I did that shade, here a mini tutorial:

First take all the fabric and trim off the shade, leaving just the metal skeleton.

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Then I spray painted the metal frame white.  I cut rectangles of fabric the same size as the sections of the frame of the shade.  Then sewed 1/2 inch hem along each edge, so the finished panels float in the middle of each section of shade.  With an exacto knife, I cut small little slits at each of the four corners of each rectangle to feed the ribbon through.  For each section of the shade, I began by tying the ribbon on to the top of the frame, then I threaded the ribbon through the small slit at the corner, wrapped the ribbon around the top of the frame a few times before threading the ribbon back through the hole at the opposite corner and tying the ribbon again to the top of the frame.

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Repeat this process for the bottom of the section, and you end up with your finished section of shade looking like so:

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Make sure you singe the cut ends of your ribbon with a lighter so they don’t unravel.  Repeat this process for each section of the shade, and you finish up looking like this (tah dah!!):

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Hope you enjoyed my first attempt at a tutorial.  It’s really hard to remember to take pictures along the way!!  Hats off to those of you who do them all the time!  :)

 

This project is competing in the Fabric Challenge at The CSI Project!

Visit thecsiproject.com

 

Linking to:

The Shabby Nest, Remodelaholic, Funk Junk Interiors

14 comments:

  1. OMG. SO lovely! I had just refinished two lampshades in gorgeous fabric, but earlier this week one lampshade somehow rested on the bulb almost burning a hole through it (and setting my home on fire....eek). I needed an idea to salvage the fabric and redo the shades....I think this just might be the winner!! WHOO ! Thanks so much for the tutorial!

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  2. p.s. what ARE Goodwill Dollar Days?!? I keep hearing about them from bloggers, but I'm fairly certain OUR GW's never have them. :( I've never heard of them around here anyway.

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  3. Oh My Goodness. I'm in awe. That is one of the sweetest lamps I've every seen. I need to keep my eyes open at Goodwill more. Thanks for sharing!!!

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  4. This is too cute! Love the fabric. I am bookmarking it in my "Things I want to do" file. :0)

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  5. Love it! I'm looking for some great ways to redo lamp shades. Filing this away for a rainy day!

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  6. Ann Marie, that is so fresh looking. It was a great old lamp that just needed a little love!

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  7. That turned out so cute! What a steal and so creative...great job:) I love the fabric choice as well.

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  8. Love the idea with the shade, looks great!
    Lisa
    www.trinity-house.com

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  9. I found your lamp at Before and After blog and I have an idential lamp just like you have! OMG! I didn't think I'll ever see someone else having the same one, too! Mine is sitting in the shed. If we were close by to each other, I'll give it to you for free! :)
    I love what you did to it after!

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We love lovely gals showin' some love!