Look What I Made...!!

From this...

To this!!!

A few years back, I persuaded Rachel to move into one of the basement bedrooms so that Mary could be upstairs near us.   The cost to me?  She got to decorate her new bedroom any way she wanted - new comforter, curtains, rug, bulletin boards, bathroom stuff and wall decos - with my help, of course.  

Rachel's bedspread of choice.

Well, she's a real trooper, cuz I haven't been able to hold up my end of the bargain too well.  We got the comforter - so cute - blue and brown and green big dots.  We repainted the bookshelf turquoise and all her picture frames too. 

It took me a year to get the curtains and shelves up.  The curtains needed tabs sewn on, and the shelves - well - we had to wait for the DAD.  

She also had this cute lamp in her bedroom. (see above)  I bought it because it had a nice base, but the shade was plainer than vanilla ice cream.  

So, today, like I had all the time in the world, I found myself in need of a distraction.  I had thought about her lampshade a few days ago and I had an idea.  So, here it is, with all the directions too!. 

(I have no idea why the above sentence is blue and underlined.  Crazy Blogger.)

So, First, I gathered my materials.

I was shooting from the hip, but I have lots of this stuff on hand - inherited from my mom.

You will need (besides the plain lampshade):

3-4 coordinating trim - lace or ribbon or both

Craft glue - permanent bond.  NO HOT GLUE!

Ruler * Pins * Old scissors(cuz you might get glue on them)

Old paintbrush or popsicle stick

Step one:  Experiment with where you are going to place your trim.  Measure out trim and cut pieces with an inch or two to spare.  

For your first row:  Working quickly so the glue doesn't dry, lay down a line of glue near the edge of the shade.  Smooth it with paintbrush or popsicle stick.  Lay down lace section with a little overhang on corners.

Repeat for each side, trimming corners (with old scissors) at edge and gluing corners down well.

 Repeat the process with the top row of lace.  Remember to glue down corners again.

 

Yep!  Looking good!!

Middle Row and bow:

Repeat process to attach middle ribbon on 3 sides.

For the remaining side - measure the width of the area you'll be covering.

 

 Next, cut two lengths of ribbon 3x the length of the above measurement.

Pin the end of each piece on a secure surface the desired (lamp shade measurement) length apart.

 

 With pieces secure, tie your bow and trim any excess.

 Attach ribbon with bow to the remaining side of lampshade.  Hold bow in place until glue dries.

Secure trimmed corners again with glue.

Voila!

You are done!!

 I can't wait to see Rachel's face when she discovers what I made for her!!

P.S.  I'm not very good at this "make it and teach you how" thing.  If you have any questions, just write to me.  I'll try to help you out of the mess I got you into.

Maybe.