A couple of years ago, I had been reading some crafty blogs. I’m not sure what overcame me, but I decided that I really wanted to “upcycle” something. I went to my local thrift store in search of something ugly, that I thought I could turn into something beautiful. I walked out with this little number… Everyone thought I was crazy for buying this lamp, and I kind of thought I was too 🙂

Who wouldn’t love that shiny gold and baby blue combo?? Um… ok. It was horrendous.

And the lamp shade was… just as bad.

It’s amazing what a little TLC can do! I coated the base with some spray-on primer (no sanding required!) and 2 coats of black spray paint. Spray paint is so easy to use – it took no time at all.

For the shade, I started by tearing off those dusty blue pleats that were probably older than I am. I decided to use burlap for my ruffles, so I cut my burlap into strips, about 1 1/2 inches wide. Then, using a hot glue gun, I glued the strips onto the shade, creating the ruffles as I went.

The ruffles were very easy to make. Just pinch a section, fold it over, and glue! I glued the first part of the ruffles down all the way. When I folded it back for the second part of gluing, though, I only glued the top (where my finger is) so it would flare out a bit at the bottom.

Then just keep going with the ruffles! For part of the lamp, I created the ruffles first, then glued the strips onto the shade. For the other part I glued onto the shade as I made the ruffles, and I think that worked a lot better. When the shade was covered, I finished off the top with a little bias tape.

And here is the final result! Not too bad for a just a few dollars 🙂

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