late night lamp fun decoupage tutorial

O.k., so we were having a birthday party for the big sister this weekend and I have decided that the bare light bulb above the kitchen table must go. It wasn't always bare...we have had various types of beaded lamps or paper shades there for years. Late last winter I made a 'chandelier' of twigs all painted bright, shiny red. I loved it. The bulb is frosted and fancy, so you could just see it thru the sticks. If you have been in my stores you know I love bunches of sticks, painted, with lights in them. It is a perennial display item. The bunch over the table was quite nice but my husband wasn't fond of it at all. He called it the 'eye-liminator' as it would sometimes poke him in the eye if he didn't sit down at the right angle or tried to reach across the table too fast. In a fit of conciliatory nesting I clipped the red twig chandelier down about two months ago but hadn't replaced it.

Well, at 11:00 on Thursday night I realized that this was not o.k. We needed a new lamp before the party. Lots of folks were coming to our house, many for the first time. I didn't care if most of them were under the age of five. We had a cheap white linen shade and somehow I got the idea to Decopatch it. I put the paper on the inside. OHH-LA-LA! This is the best thing ever. The shade is demure by day, just white linen, and then at night it just glows with all the paper color. It may be a bit too technicolor for me; I used a tad bit too much blue and green, but it is overall quite lovely. It is a bit like having some special party decorations in the room.

The funny thing is that I didn't really have any Decopatch paper at home. Well, I had one partial sheet. So I did take advantage of the fact that, for me, the craft store is always open. My mom was already in her jammies when I got this idea and all I had to say was "Mom, get dressed, we're going to Ornamentea" and she was ready. My mom is a good person to spring last minute, late night crafting projects on. We got the paper and got back home and had the lampshade up by 12:30. Seriously, this whole project took one and one half hours including shopping time, rewiring the bulb fixture, and all the paper tearing and gluing.
Here are pics and my steps.


This is the lamp showing you the outside. Plain, plain old lamp shade. You can see the paper thru it because I took this picture at night.







Here is the inside of the lamp shade while I was Decopatching it. I have to say, the glue is quite nice, it dries really glossy and is completely waterproof!



Here I am, hard at work. My mom helped steady the lamp shade as it wanted to roll all around the table. If you try this all alone I would suggest a rolled up towel under the shade.


And here is the shade lit up and lovely. Isn't that beautiful?
Do this at home, kids!