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Home » 1 Hour C.R.A.F.T.'s » DIY Lamp shade

DIY Lamp shade

January 22, 2013 By Jamie Dorobek 33 Comments

I was in a shady contest… As in a lamp shade contest, ha! And I’m back today with the DIY lampshade tutorial.

How to make a balsa wood lampshade

Let’s start with the inspiration shade from Pomp and Circumstance. It’s awesome and made out of balsa wood.   lamp shade Of  course, I wanted to make the shade my own, and I’ve been really into mixed woods lately. I made a jewelry organizer out of leftover floor samples last year and decided to go for the same multi wood shade look with the lamp shade. CRAFT Jamie Dorobek

For the contest, lamps.com gave each of us this free shade for the contest:

diy lamp shade
Here’s what you need to make a DIY lampshade

  • 7 strips of as wide and thin balsa wood that you can find  (I got mine from Hobby Lobby. 7 strips cost me $17)
  • brown acrylic paint and water
  • bowl
  • scissors
  • hot glue gun

First, I painted my strips of balsa wood with acrylic paint. I painted a few strips a darker color, then watered down the paint, and painted a few more strips, etc…
diy lampshade

Here are my painted and dried balsa wood strips ready to be cut.
lamp shade makeover

I used scissors to cut each wide strip into multiple pieces. This saved money! I made my strips all different sizes. The thin balsa wood can easily be cut with scissors!
lamp 12

Now it’s time for assembly. Be patient, it will get frustrating. First, hot glue one piece of wood around the top and bottom of the shade. If you have a large shade, like me, one piece will not fit… cut up another one and  do a little patch, like so…

lamps shade diy

I only glued the edges of the balsa wood down. You need to be able to tuck the ends into each other. Also, only the first few strips can be put on all in one piece. After that I started cutting the strips to fit specific spots and go under/ over certain pieces. I tried to keep the pieces as tight to the shade as possible.

diy lamp shade

The weaving process takes time and patience! My mom helped me a lot… I was getting frustrated! Many of the pieces in the pic below are only a few inches long. It’s not going to be perfect… it has issues… and that yellow wall was not helping the color in this picture either : /

lamp shade

Here she is full view, and you can’t really see the issues. I’m love her. She’s pretty. I’m hoping one day she might be a pendant light! We’ll see…
lamp

Jamie Dorobek

Once upon a time I was in another lamp contest… this was to win the ugly lamp award, ha! I also recently did a lamp makeover with paint and water and gave it a giant yellow shade. Anyhow, what do you think about my balsa wood beauty queen? I smitten with my new shade, and I hope you are too. Oh and if you liked this lampshade makeover, check out 22 more really awesome lampshade makeover ideas!

Filed Under: 1 Hour C.R.A.F.T.'s, Wood Crafs

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Comments

  1. April R - Uncookie Cutter says

    January 22, 2016 at 3:38 pm

    I loved this so much, I featured it at the Pretty Pintastic Party this week! It’s beautiful, I’m copying this and I hope you’ll come back and link up again!

    Reply
  2. Theresa @DearCreatives says

    January 21, 2016 at 1:31 pm

    Loving this project Jamie! Thanks for sharing it at the Inspiration Spotlight party. Pinned & shared.

    Reply
  3. Frugal Hausfrau says

    January 20, 2016 at 11:31 am

    I absolutely love this idea – I think this would be fantastic to rework old lampshades. When my kids were teens it seemed like my lamps were always getting knocked about and I can’t tell you how many shades I had to replace. I think this would be great with ribbon, too. The jewelry hanger is gorge, too!

    Thanks for linking up to us on Throwback Thursday, and I’m looking forward to seeing what you’ll bring next week! 🙂

    Mollie

    Reply
  4. Jennifer Dawn says

    January 20, 2016 at 11:23 am

    What a neat lamp! Such a creative idea, and I love the color you chose for the stand!

    Reply
  5. Jamie @Coffee With Us 3 says

    January 19, 2016 at 8:18 pm

    What a fun and unique idea! Thanks for sharing it at The Pretty Pintastic Party! We enjoyed it so much we are featuring it at this weekend’s party. Stop by, grab a featured badge, and link up some more awesome posts!

    Reply
  6. Rebecca says

    January 13, 2016 at 1:28 pm

    Beautiful lamp shade! I love all of the different colors and the texture of the wood. I think I’m going to have to try to make something with balsa wood strips. Thanks for the inspiration. Pinning it!

    Reply
  7. Anika says

    January 13, 2016 at 12:27 pm

    What a brilliant idea!

    Reply
  8. Evija says

    January 13, 2016 at 9:20 am

    Love this idea, so creative and looks beautiful! Thank you for sharing with OMHG Wonderful Wednesday Link Party.. Have a great day, co-host Evija @Fromevijawithlove x

    Reply
  9. creativejewishmom/sara says

    January 10, 2016 at 3:43 pm

    Great job, and yes it would look amazing as a pendant! thanks so much for sharing on craft schooling Sunday, great to reconnect in 2016!

    Reply
  10. Trip Marie says

    September 19, 2014 at 10:46 am

    I love this project! I’m gathering materials to try this myself, but could you be more specific about a few things?
    1. What were the dimensions of the shade you used?
    2. How did you estimate the amount of balsa wood needed? (Double or triple the surface area of the shade to be covered?)
    3. How wide & thick were your balsa wood strips/sheets before you cut them down?
    4. Did you have any issues with the strips snapping or breaking as you bent them around the shade?
    5. Was it necessary to heat or steam the strips to make them more pliable?

    Thank you for sharing your creativity & time, I look forward to hearing from you!

    Reply
  11. [email protected] Creative Dominican says

    July 2, 2013 at 11:18 pm

    Looks great! New follower from the Monday Fun Party.

    Reply
  12. Kathy Penney @ Sparkles and a Stove says

    April 6, 2013 at 8:55 pm

    Love this shade! Thanks for linking up to All Things Pretty. New follower on Twitter and Pinterest.

    Reply
  13. June @ Coffee Under The Umbrella says

    January 29, 2013 at 10:53 pm

    LOVE the blue for the lamp! I really need to make a jewelry organizer and I really like yours.

    Reply
    • Jamie Dorobek says

      January 29, 2013 at 11:54 pm

      Jewelry organizer is a super easy project, way easier than the shade! Do it, do it!

      Reply
  14. Leigh Ann says

    January 28, 2013 at 5:44 pm

    Very cool! I have a love affair with lampshades.

    Reply
  15. Lora @ Craftivity Designs says

    January 26, 2013 at 10:53 pm

    So unique! Love it.

    Reply
  16. Navy Wifey Peters says

    January 26, 2013 at 8:20 pm

    I LOVE this lamp! I’m pinning this to my lamp shade board! This is so creative and unique! Wow!

    Navy Wifey Peters @ Submarine Sunday Link Party
    http://usscrafty.blogspot.com/2013/01/submarine-sunday-16.html

    Reply
    • Jamie Dorobek says

      January 27, 2013 at 12:37 am

      Glad you like it 🙂 Thanks for pinning!

      Reply
  17. Kate says

    January 23, 2013 at 11:53 pm

    very talented! this lamp looks awesome!

    Reply
  18. steph | stuff steph does says

    January 23, 2013 at 8:33 pm

    This is so beautiful! Love the look of the mixed woods!

    Reply
    • Jamie Dorobek says

      January 24, 2013 at 12:03 am

      Thank you, Steph! I’m lovin’ the mixed wood thing too!

      Reply
  19. Jenna says

    January 22, 2013 at 1:24 pm

    Wow, that’s so neat! Love the look.

    Reply
    • Jamie Dorobek says

      January 22, 2013 at 4:43 pm

      Glad you like it, Jenna! It’s time consuming, but so worth it!

      Reply
  20. Monsterscircus says

    January 22, 2013 at 7:29 am

    I have already voted for you, my fingers are crossed for you 🙂 have a wonderful day!

    Reply
    • Jamie Dorobek says

      January 22, 2013 at 4:42 pm

      Thanks for voting 🙂

      Reply

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Hi, I'm Jamie!
I Create Really Awesome Free Things for your home, wardrobe, kitchen, and kids in Austin, TX with the sometimes help of Andy!
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