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Photo Lampshade. PINTEREST UPDATE: This is a post from 2010.

Photo Lampshade

I do not take custom orders, only the tutorial is available. The lamps have held up wonderfully. As many of you requested, Marie is sharing a little tutorial here on how she made her lampshades. When she made them she was not planning on doing a tutorial for this blog, so be sure to thank her for taking the time to write all this out. Also, for those wondering…Kara will be sharing some tutorials for her book art on her blog soon. Marie is happy to do custom orders for those that prefer buying over making! * LAMPSHADE – Hobby Lobby carries self-adhesive shades & nightlights, Target has some smaller lamps for $19 that would be perfect for this project, I’ve found some lamps & shades on Craigslist. . * GLUE – I used a hot glue gun for the first lamp. . * VELLUM – I buy this in packs of 20 (I think) in the scrapbooking section of Hobby Lobby. . * PRINTER – I have a color inkjet printer.

If you are using photos – there are several options. Plastic Cup Lamp. Now that my university is closed for winter holidays, I finally have more free time to do all the crafty things I’ve been wanting to.

Plastic Cup Lamp

One of these is a lamp made from plastic cups I’ve seen at taf, the art foundation, in the Monastiraki region in the center of Athens. When I first saw it at taf, I was amazed; I looked closely and I couldn’t believe my eyes! The object itself is so peculiar, modern and alien-like it could be in any design exhibition. With my best friend’s birthday coming up, I decided to make it myself and give it to her as a gift. It turns out it was the easiest craft I’ve even done, the epitome of DIY objects! Disclaimer: There have been some concerns about the safety of this construction (see the comment of user “when” below for example). I only needed a couple of things: 200-250 large plastic cups (recyclable, at least )600-700 staplesa staplera lamp socket, lamp cord and plug – mine came from a broken IKEA lamp! That’s all you will need. Sun Jar.

UPDATE: This post originally ran on March 23 2011, but with summer winding down we wanted to bring it back up for some late summer inspiration!

Sun Jar

A fellow fp girl sent this to me a couple weeks back and i’ve been thinking about it ever since! I can think of a million reasons why these would be awesome… as apartment décor, as outdoor party décor, and – wouldn’t they be the best thing EVER for camping in general or at a festival? Just let them sit in the sun all day, and they’ll last all night! I am absolutely going to make some to bring with me to bonnaroo this year. you can buy a sun jar here, but you can make your own for much cheaper! What you need: a mason jar with a clear glass lid like this one from ikea, a solar garden light like the ones pictured above, which i found here, adhesive and glass frosting spray. start by spraying the inside of the jar with the frosting spray – this will help diffuse the light and give it a warm glow. don’t spray the lid though!

Last image. Doily Lamps. Ambient light in 5 minutes flat!

Doily Lamps

The jar lights I made created quite a bit of interest. The benefit of using LED lights over tealights is safety & if you’re having an outdoor party you don’t need to worry about weather as the light would of course be protected by the lid of the jar. Edit: I used large jars which were purchased very cheaply from a homewares store but used kitchen jars would work too. If you want uniformity with the the lids then perhaps a coat of paint?

The LED battery operated lights that I used were purchased from Bunnings. I’m seriously considering setting up something in the garden similar to this brilliant piece of garden art… freshly installed& 3 months later which was inspired by Margie’s project here. Of course, you don’t really need a how to…it’s a speed demon type project. & because I wanted to try out the embed feature through Google Docs… you just need to click the little icon in the top right (open in new window) if you want to print the pdf. Pop Top Lamp.