How to Cover a Lamp Shade with Lace

Instead of buying a new lamp, give your old lamp shade a makeover with lace. This is an easy green choice because the old lamp shade is being recycled and the lamp not replaced. Covering a lamp shade is a wonderful way to let your creative side show. Add a butterfly or bird or even some buttons with some hot glue.

Covering a lamp shade does change the way the light is thrown. Moderate weight lace easily prevents half of the light from going through the shade and instead focuses the light down and up. Of course this effect can be changed through lighter or heavier lace and other assorted decorative items.

Covering the lamp shade with lace is easy to do. All you need is the lace, a pair of scissors and a hot glue gun and clear glue sticks. Starting at the bottom of the lamp shade, glue the lace top around the very bottom edge. When you have come to the beginning of the glued lace, cut the lace with a little lap over. Glue the lap over and be sure to press it as flat as possible.

Begin the second layer by deciding where to place it. The lace should be raised up as far as possible from the first layer without going to far. There should be a ruffled quality and not a striped one. Glue the second stripe around evenly and finish the round as before. Repeat the previous instructions until the lamp shade is covered. The last round of lace should be glued with the lace top to the lamp shade ring top.

It is easy to cover a lamp shade with rolls of lace. It isn't easy to know exactly how much lace that you will need since lace width, shade size and personal usage affects the amount. Still, you should be able to take a good guess by multiplying the middle length of the lamp shade width by how ever many stripes of lace it would take.

Recycling one old lamp and lamp shade might inspire you to recycle many more lamp shades. Maybe you will want to cover the lamp itself in lace. Or maybe you will want to recycle other objects like pencil holders or file crates. Since lace is a good accent with most decors there is little reason not to cover lamp shades and everything else in sight!