What do you do when your favourite lamp broke and you have to buy a new one, but you are on a budget and the more affordable options are just plain Janes? That’s right: you turn them into an upcycling project!
I have this lamp for a few months now and even though it’s a perfectly fine lamp and does it’s job, you know, shine light ;) it just wasn’t doing it for me.
So I google on how to restyle a lamp and found a few fun ideas: Painting the shade, covering it up with fabric, removing the fabric of the shade and spray painting everything and decoupage fabric to the shade. And I loved that last idea! But, I didn’t have the right fabric and I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on it. So I went with the next best thing: paper napkins! I found these at a museum gift store and loved them! They were 4 euro’s and with some leftover mod podge at home, my super budget project was born!
I am so happy to share this with you, since you can use it on any type of lampshade, even on the base of the lamp!
Are you ready to upcycle your own lampshade? Here we go! (plus I made a short tutorial video, in case you don’t feel like walking through the step by step.
UPCYCLING DIY | Decoupage Lampshade, with paper napkins
This project is a part of the LRS collection.
Make it yourself today!
SUPPLIES
Lamp shade
Paper Napkins
Mod Podge
Sponge Brush
Scissors
Click on the video to view it on Pinterest.
SUPPLIES
Lamp shade
Paper Napkins
Mod Podge (or any suitable decoupage adhesive)
Sponge Brush
Scissors
STEP 1
– Unfold the napkins
– Use your scissors to cut out any shape that you like to use.
*If the lampshade is a different color than the main color of the napkins, like it was in my case, make sure that you be precise and don’t leave any edges on your cutouts.
STEP 2
– Once you have cut the shapes out, take them individually and remove the extra layers on the back.
– My napkins had two with layers and it is very important that you remove them all.
STEP 3
– With your sponge brush, apply a layer of mod podge (or any decoupage adhesive) to the lamp shade.
– Don’t apply it to the entire shade at once, since it might dry to quick, apply it in smaller sections.
STEP 4
– Gently press paper napkin cutouts to the lamp shade. Make sure that your fingers don’t get any glue on them, when you press against the paper.
– Repeat doing this on the entire lampshade until you are happy with your design.
STEP 5
– Once all of the paper is attached to the lampshade, dip your sponge into the mod podge and gently brush over the paper shapes, securing them to the background.
– Tru not to brush too rough because the paper might rip.
STEP 6
– Let it dry.
Decoupage is a tricky techniques, everything depends on the surface that you use, the material that you are decoupaging with and the adhesive.
Very early on in the project, I realised that I was never going to be able to create a smooth surface with this method. So the napkins on the shade have structure. If you touch the cutouts, you can feel a rough surface. I love this look and it gives it texture, but if it’s not your thing, be aware that you will need another technique to get a smooth result.
CREDITS
Lamp – QAZQA
Paper Napkins – Marimekko
This post is an original LRS project and was not sponsored.
