Lamp Shade Project: Fun with Ribbon

Less than three months to my due date! It feels like time is going by too fast, but at the same time, not fast enough.

As the days fly by, we’re checking things off our baby to-do list and continuing our work on the nursery. Last week, I decided to refashion a simple white lamp and shade that we already owned to use in the nursery. I researched some ideas online, like gluing buttons on a lampshade or spray painting it a bold color. After looking at many lampshade craft projects, I chose to decorate my plain white one with bright-colored ribbons in a crisscross pattern. I think the results came out pretty good – let me know what you think!

And in case you’d like to decorate a lampshade of your own with ribbon, here’s how it’s done.

You’ll need:
One drum lampshade
Ribbon, 2 or 3 different colors in 3/8” or 5/8” widths (10 yards of each, depending on the size of your shade)
Scissors
Hot glue gun and glue sticks
Measuring tape

First, measure around the top of the lampshade and, with a pencil, mark off every inch. Cut the ribbon into pieces that are about 1 to 2 inches longer than the height of the lampshade. In total, you’ll need to have two pieces of ribbon for every inch that you marked off on the lampshade.

Heat up your glue gun. Then take a piece of ribbon and arrange it diagonally starting from one of the inch markers at the top of the shade to the bottom. Glue the ends of the ribbon to the inside of the shade to hold it in place. Continue gluing ribbon around the entire shade at the one inch markers. You can alternate ribbon colors, if you’d like, or use one color.

After you’ve finished going around the whole lampshade, you’ll start the crisscross pattern. Using ribbon pieces in another color, weave them through the ribbon already glued onto the lampshade. This ribbon will be going diagonally in the opposite direction and it should cross over and under three of the ribbon strands already attached to the shade. Once a piece of ribbon is weaved through, glue the ends to the inside of the lampshade. Continue doing this until you’ve gone around the entire lampshade. Ta-da! With a little ribbon and glue, you end up with a brand-new looking lampshade.