DIY Lampshade

For Christmas Rosa Lee got me an awesome lamp base from D.I. for $3. It's a tabletop lamp with a swivel arm so that I can have enough light to do some of my drafting assignments at home. It is an awesome lamp in excellent condition. To buy a brand new lamp just like it would cost around $90... so we got a steal.

The only defect was that the finial had broken off and it's not a lamp that you can simply replace the harp and be done with it. With the help of Rosa Lee's brother, Daniel, we welded a new finial on top. Then we began the hunt for a shade...

We searched everywhere. Walmart, RC Willey, D.I. several times, Kmart, Bed Bath and Beyond... but no luck. Nothing in the size we needed had the right fitting. So... we made our own.

Here's how.

We bought two hoops from the craft store to create the form.
Then, we attached three wires to a washer in the center of one hoop. The wire is 19 gauge. I would recommend a more rigid wire, though. Also, a soldering gun would have been helpful.




Next, we cut an 8" strip of posterboard.







We cut a strip of fabric 9" wide.







We laid the posterboard on the fabric then hot-glued the edges of the fabric over the posterboard.






We rolled the re-enforced fabric around the rings to get the shape then hot-glued the end piece.






We hot-glued the rings securely inside.











And there you have it. An awesome, one of a kind lamp. And all for only $13.63!










So sexy...