a quick fix

In July I posted some pictures from our beach house and have since received several questions about the burlap lampshades on the mantle. Its kind of a funny story how they came to be and how exactly they were made...

One night in June, I was at the beach with some friends sitting around chatting and drinking wine in the living room, trying not to look at my mantle. The mantle display had been driving me crazy for months, but I was at a total loss of what to do with it. A few glasses of wine and some helpful friends can convince you that 10:00 at night is definitely a good time to tackle such a project. We pinned a vintage American flag I had picked up at the flea market right over the picture that had been there before (I had big plans to get it framed, but when you start a project at such an hour, you make due with what is available) and started fooling around with what else was there and what we had. The old lampshades were simply not cutting it for me, so with burlap always on hand, we decided to give our own lampshades a go. I thought, "We should definitely take pictures, because everyone is going to want to see how to make these." A few glasses of wine can make your ideas seem a bit more brilliant than they appear the next day. I actually love the way they turned out, but kind of figured it wasn't much of a tutorial worth sharing... However, with several requests about them, I figured I might as well pass along the complexities of this amazing project. (Remember, these pictures were taken late one summer night while drinking wine, so don't judge...).

So, here is a little project for all of you who don't know how to sew, but are more than capable with scissors and a glue gun...

Step 1: Rip off old lamp shade, so you are left with only the frame.

Step 2: Cut 4 identical pieces the shape of the frame, only slightly bigger.

Step 3: Hot glue the pieces to the frame and to each other.

And there you have your very own, custom made burlap lamp shade!

So, there you have it. If you are feeling bored with an old lamp shade or feel like stopping in to Goodwill and picking up one just for the frame, you can give a room a new look with this little simple quick fix of a project. I have to say, it made me instantly happier!