Making Homemade Lamps for Christmas Gifts

There is nothing more interesting than a one-of-a-kind lamp for a family room or living room decoration. You can make an inexpensive lamp or purchase the base at a second hand store. To make the lamp you will need to get the "guts" at a home improvement store. They have various types of fixtures; so if you really want it simple, which is always best, get the kind that has a rubber stopper bottom and the cord out the back. You don't have to drill holes in bottles with these.

Make a Seashell or Colored Sand Lamp.

These are wonderful and useful gifts for anyone. All you need is a bottle with a mouth that will allow seashells to be inserted, or make it simple, get colored sand and use any clear bottle. Fill the bottle. If you are using colored sand, this is a great deal of fun. Pour a level of sand in that is one of the decorating colors for your recipient. Use alternating layers of different colors until it is filled close enough to the top that the stopper can be put in but there isn't a lot of air space. I like a simple white shade with these to accent the color of the sand. Buy a new one if you are leaving it white. It is hard to hide the used effect that life has on white lampshades.

You can get very creative with a piece of wire and a lot of patience. I have seen some beautiful pictures created out of the sand, although I'm more of a layer person. Frankly, I'm not the most patient of souls. If it is quick, I like it. I rate my meals by how many minutes it takes me to make. Pizza is usually a plus 10 since we are only minutes from the pizza parlor. It is very difficult to get some of the beautiful scenes, and colored layers are not as impressive, but just as pretty.

You can use a vase that is opaque, but make certain that it has or stones in the bottom to give it weight. If you want to paint designs of the vase it makes it more personal. You can also etch a design in a clear or colored glass bottle. Etching won't show if it is opaque. Find the directions for etching here.

Revitalize a Used Lamp

If you don't want to give a seashell lamp buy a second hand lamp and make it new again. It really doesn't matter what shape it is in, but take a light bulb with you when you make the purchase. Test the fixture by putting your bulb in the socket, plugging it in the wall, and turning it on. If it works, you are in like flint.

The base of these lamps can be creatively painted or simply repainted their original color. If you are going to decorate the lampshade, leave the lamp a simple color. Wooden wall fixtures can be decorated with a color and outlined with a gold strip about 1/2 inch from the edge. To do this, paint the fixture but put a strip of tape, the size of the strip all the way around. Be certain to create a zip puller on the tape by turning under each end so it won't stick and you can pull it off. Once the first layer is dry use a paint pen for the colored strip.

Create a Decorative Shade

My sister gave my mother a lamp with a shade that must have taken hours to create. It had tassels made of beads, glued beads, more beads, and fringe. The cat absolutely loved it and it had to be removed to a spot that Abby couldn't reach. A glue gun, beads and fringe are all you need for these types of shades.

You can easily create an unusual pattern by cutting stencils out of clear shelf paper. Stick the cut outs all over the lampshade and very lightly spray the shade with the desired color of acrylic enamel paint. If you want the color darker, don't spray it on heavier. Let the first layer dry and lightly spray it again. A light color is best as it is difficult to get the paint even and it shows in the more dramatic coloring. Remove the stencils and you have a patterned shade. Add accent colors with a paint pen.

One last idea for a lamp that I absolutely love, but it is my personal taste, and may not be yours. Paint a candlestick lamp white. Allow it to dry. Once the candlestick lamp is dry, paint small rows of black polka dots following the lines of the lamp. I don't suggest that you paint the shade black. It doesn't work well. Buy a black shade or make one of fabric. I'd tell you how to do it, but I have never done it before, so you are on your own.

Once you have a shade that you like, paint about five to six rows of white dots on about a 2-inch border. Make the dots smaller as they go to the top of the black shade.

This article is getting me interested in making furniture again. I should say, remaking. I spent about two years buying useless furniture at local garage sales, gutting and cutting them, and making them into new pieces. It all started when I decided to redecorate the living room for my daughter's graduation. I had limited funds, as I was recently divorced, so I reupholstered the fabric furniture and refinished the wood. It looked so neat, after the graduation I started to buy up other things to redo. A house can only hold so much, so I gave the items away as gifts. They are hard to wrap.

I think I may try making a few lampshades. Those with the cut outs look so neat, wonder if they're hard to make?