moulin rouge lampshade.

i have had my nose consistently buried in several copies of diy magazine during my attempts to redecorate our townhouse on the cheap. my thought was that if i could re-do lots of things we already have, we'd get a brand-new look without the brand-new price tag! one idea i came across that i loved was a ribbon-wrapped lampshade. this project was fun, easy, and cost me all of $9 on three rolls of sheer ribbon!

before> plain jane fabric lampshade
after> pretty orange ribbon wrapped (kind-of looking like pleated fabric?) lampshade!
when i stood back to admire my finished project, turning on the lamp, i discovered that the ribbon gives the lamp a sort-of funky moulin rouge-ish glow... a totally unexpected effect! i might normally have thought it cheesy, but i'm guess i'm in just enough of a let's-break-out-of-the-ordinary-expected mood that it works. This, too, is a super quick, easy, and cheap project! you stick the end of the ribbon into the inside of the shade with double-sided tape, and wrap wrap wrap wrap for about 45 minutes while watching re-runs of the office (or maybe that's just me!). anytime your ribbon runs out (mine took about 2 and a half normal-sized rolls) just stick the new end on top of the old end with more tape (making sure to catch the actual shade in there too) and keep wrapping!

sidenote: i'm thinking about touching up the inside with fabric glue where the tape keeps coming unstuck in a place or two!

i had, at first, considered covering just the edges of the outside of the shade with some ribbon, like this other diy tutorial, but i'm really happy with my little orange moulin rouge lampshade.