Make a one-of-a-kind lampshade with wallpaper mounted on styrene and glued to a wire lampshade frame. Materials:
Wire lampshade frame
Wallpaper
White spray paint
Peel-and-stick styrene
Pencil
Bulldog clips
Heavy-duty craft glue
Narrow trim to cover panel seams
Wider trim for top and bottom of shade
- Choose wallpaper. If you want to make the project very easy, choose a solid pattern or a pattern with a small repeat. We chose an elegant diamond-patterned wallpaper.
- Choose a wire lampshade frame. Ours is a hexagonal bell frame with a harp (figure A).
- Spray-paint the inside of the lampshade frame white.
- Styrene, which is translucent, strong and heat-resistant, forms the backing for the wallpaper-covered shade. Make a styrene template to use for each side of the shade. To do so, clip a piece of styrene to one side of the frame. Hold the styrene securely to the frame, and pencil a line around the outside of the top, bottom and one side (figure B) of the frame. Mark along the inside of the other side of the frame. (Note: It's very important to mark along the outside of one side of the frame and the inside of the other side to get a correctly sized template.
- Use a razor knife to cut the styrene along the traced lines. Trace the template to make a styrene form for each side of the lampshade.
- Lay the wallpaper face up on the table, and move the styrene until it's properly centered on the pattern. If the pattern is small and repeating, there's no need to match it, but if the pattern is large -- for example, as in our diamond-patterned paper -- it's important that all the tops line up evenly (figure C).
- Trace the template form on the wallpaper, and cut out with a razor knife.
- Peel the backing off the styrene (figure D), and attach the sticky side of the styrene to the back side of the wallpaper.
- Repeat for all sides of the shade.
- Glue the wallpaper panels to the wire lampshade frame, using heavy-duty craft glue. Apply a thin bead of glue along an entire section of the wire frame. Place a wallpapered panel against the glued frame (figure E), and hold the panel in place with bulldog clips placed at an angle at the top and bottom of each panel (figure F).
- Attach all panels in the same manner. Let dry for about an hour.
- Squeeze a thin line of glue along each seam (figure G), and cover with a thin piece of trim (figure H). Cover the side seams first so the cut ends can be tucked under the top and bottom trim.
- Attach the wider trim to the top and bottom of the shade. Apply a bead of glue along the bottom on the outside of the shade, and set the trim in place (figure I). Then apply glue to the inside edge, and fold the trim to the inside.
- Glue trim to the top of the shade in the same fashion. Before folding the trim to the inside, cut a small slit at each panel seam so the trim will lie flat.
RESOURCES :
Instruction books and materials
The Lamp Shop
Concord, NH 03302-3606
Phone: 603-224-0005
Fax: 603-224-6677
Email: lampshop@juno.com
Website: www.lampshop.com
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