I absolutely adore this fabric. I'm pretty sure it's my all time favorite fabric ever woven on this planet. Too much buildup? :)
It's lovely on the doodle! Special thanks to grandma for crafting this beautiful dress! Can you believe how big she's gotten since I first started blogging?
But it's also the perfect new cover for the office lamp shades! I bought 2 sweet little mercury glass lamps at TJ Maxx. They were the perfect size, and came with the shade! $20 a piece... booyah!
The shade was just a little serious for the room and I was looking for ways to incorporate more pattern and texture and the lamp shade was the perfect opportunity. I haven't covered a lampshade before, but there are oodles of online tutorials with all different methods.
This lampshade was particularly easy v. other tutorials I've seen because it's the same diameter on the top and the bottom, so I didn't have to deal with tracing out a pattern. I just cut a strip the length of the circumference plus an inch or so, and I made the strip 10" wide for my 9" height shade. That left me with 1/2" to finish the top and the bottom.
So I just laid down my fabric, sprayed it with re-positionable spray adhesive concentrating on the middle more than the edges. I positioned the shade on the center so I had my 1/2" on each side, then I just slowly rolled it while smoothing out any wrinkles or bubbles. I had to start over on the first try but because the adhesive lets you re-position, that's no biggie. At the seam, I just folded the excess inch neatly and as straight as I could and used glue to finish it off.
Then, I put regular white glue along the top and wrapped the 1/2" over the top pulling tight. I went about halfway around and used cheapo clothes pins to hold it tight. As it happens, the groove of the clothes pin is the exact shape and size as the ring on the shade so it works great. I only did half at a time because I only had that one stack of clothes pins. The glue set quickly though. I may go back and add white ribbon along the top inside edge, but having the lamps in here for a couple days I don't even notice the 1/8" or so of fabric. This was a fast and easy project and I LOVE what the fabric did for this lamp.
Here it is all sweet and pretty. :)
I bought a yard of fabric to do the shades, and had leftover that I decided to put to good use on another project for the office.
With the armoire losing some of its privacy with mesh doors instead of wood, I wanted to make sure the bins we use for all our home and personal files are pretty since they'll be somewhat visible. Plus, tax documents deserve a pretty home too. :)
I decided I'd buy some basic hanging file storage boxes and cover the fronts with the leftover fabric. I wanted the basic old school cardboard filing boxes, but with the hanging rails built in and those aren't easy to find anymore (in person). I could have ordered them online, but they're kind of pricey with mixed reviews. Some reviews even said they were shipped without the hanging rails and were just empty boxes. So, I went to Staples and found a free standing metal hanging file rack system and they come 2 per box for $10. So I got two the plain letter size filing boxes without the rails (I should have bought these at Walmart or Target - they would have been half the price, but it saved me a trip!) All in all, it came out a few dollars cheaper than ordering online and I was able to take it home with me and get it done immediately instead of waiting for them to ship. (I'm a bit jaded as everything I've ordered lately has taken eons to ship out and get here.)
Anyway, this was a really simple project. First I assembled all the boxes but ignored the lids. Then I assembled all the hanging racks. The rails are adjustable length so you can just use pliers to snap off at 1/2" intervals to the length you want. I spray painted the 4 sides of the boxes in Krylon periwinkle. I'd never spray painted cardboard before, and it's not explicitly recommended on the cans, but I thought about every time I've spray painted something else and used cardboard to protect the floor or the ground or whatever... that cardboard always ended up well coated in the overspray so I gave it a shot and it worked great.
Side note... buying spray paint is now harder than buying beer or drugs, I'd bet. I bought my first can at Walmart when I had the doodle in tow. We plucked it off the shelf ourselves and then did self checkout. You now have to be 18 to buy spray paint, because of the shenanigans kids have gotten into with spray cans I guess. With my back to the self checkout attendant, she immediately hit the button to clear the request for checking my age, I swiped my card and off we went. I came up short a little with that one can, so when I was out in a different part of town later that day I decided to pick up another can at Michaels only to find that the spray paints are under lock and key with metal bars that I imagine would rival our local county jail. So I went and flagged down an employee, and he apologized he doesn't have the "authority" to unlock the spray paint but he'd get his manager. So the manager came and got the can I needed and told me to just let them know at the front that I had a can being held for me. I told her that was all I needed so I could take it myself and she said it wasn't allowed and she had to escort the can to the checkout. I raised an eyebrow and she explained that she was tired of cleaning up spray paint all over her store. So I get to checkout, and they were opening a new register due to the growing line, and it turns out the paint was on the opposite side of the checkout area with a cashier who was busy with someone else. So that was all just weird and annoying, and then she asks for my ID. I didn't hide my exasperation as I not only show it to her but when she takes it from me and scrutinizes it and checks my picture. I said, "seriously? do I look like I'm not old enough to go to prom yet? Next year I will have earned my right to buy spray paint TWICE OVER. You'd think I'm trying to buy something illegal!" She gave a robotic grin and I high tailed it out of there. Long story short, get your spray paint at a home improvement store or walmart where they don't have spray paint skeletons in their closets.
Moving on... I had about 23" width left on my 1 yard length of fabric so it worked out great, and I still have a few scraps left for a rainy day. :) The front of the boxes are about 10"x12" so I cut 4 squares just larger than that to roll the sides in for a nice finished edge. I decided not to get fancy so I skipped all sewing or stitch witchery and just rolled and ironed a 1/4" hem on the sides and left the top and bottom raw. Then I coated the whole front of the box with mod podge, and laid the fabric down smoothing any bubbles or wrinkles. Then I used some hot glue on the bottom to glue the raw edge to the under side of the box, and same at the top attaching to the inside of the box. Finally where the open handles are on the box, I made some cuts and wrapped that fabric up/down/to the sides so the handles are usable.
Here they are all finished with the hanging racks tucked inside.
and finally in their new home. I don't think there's room for another one on the bottom shelf because the modem is there along with all the power cords. However I'd be lying if I said the lack of symmetry doesn't bother me. :) I might have to figure something else out. The boxes themselves are just what I wanted and were super easy once my background check, blood test, and retina scan turned out ok buying the spraypaint at Michaels. This is an awfully real sneak peek of the new office!! By the way, the upholstery shop is short handed this week so his Wednesday estimate is now Saturday. :( I'll be blogging the whole office as soon as the chairs arrive and I get photos!
It's lovely on the doodle! Special thanks to grandma for crafting this beautiful dress! Can you believe how big she's gotten since I first started blogging?
But it's also the perfect new cover for the office lamp shades! I bought 2 sweet little mercury glass lamps at TJ Maxx. They were the perfect size, and came with the shade! $20 a piece... booyah!
The shade was just a little serious for the room and I was looking for ways to incorporate more pattern and texture and the lamp shade was the perfect opportunity. I haven't covered a lampshade before, but there are oodles of online tutorials with all different methods.
This lampshade was particularly easy v. other tutorials I've seen because it's the same diameter on the top and the bottom, so I didn't have to deal with tracing out a pattern. I just cut a strip the length of the circumference plus an inch or so, and I made the strip 10" wide for my 9" height shade. That left me with 1/2" to finish the top and the bottom.
So I just laid down my fabric, sprayed it with re-positionable spray adhesive concentrating on the middle more than the edges. I positioned the shade on the center so I had my 1/2" on each side, then I just slowly rolled it while smoothing out any wrinkles or bubbles. I had to start over on the first try but because the adhesive lets you re-position, that's no biggie. At the seam, I just folded the excess inch neatly and as straight as I could and used glue to finish it off.
 |
| The fabric is sprayed with adhesive and ready to be rolled. |
Then, I put regular white glue along the top and wrapped the 1/2" over the top pulling tight. I went about halfway around and used cheapo clothes pins to hold it tight. As it happens, the groove of the clothes pin is the exact shape and size as the ring on the shade so it works great. I only did half at a time because I only had that one stack of clothes pins. The glue set quickly though. I may go back and add white ribbon along the top inside edge, but having the lamps in here for a couple days I don't even notice the 1/8" or so of fabric. This was a fast and easy project and I LOVE what the fabric did for this lamp.
Here it is all sweet and pretty. :)
I bought a yard of fabric to do the shades, and had leftover that I decided to put to good use on another project for the office.
With the armoire losing some of its privacy with mesh doors instead of wood, I wanted to make sure the bins we use for all our home and personal files are pretty since they'll be somewhat visible. Plus, tax documents deserve a pretty home too. :)
I decided I'd buy some basic hanging file storage boxes and cover the fronts with the leftover fabric. I wanted the basic old school cardboard filing boxes, but with the hanging rails built in and those aren't easy to find anymore (in person). I could have ordered them online, but they're kind of pricey with mixed reviews. Some reviews even said they were shipped without the hanging rails and were just empty boxes. So, I went to Staples and found a free standing metal hanging file rack system and they come 2 per box for $10. So I got two the plain letter size filing boxes without the rails (I should have bought these at Walmart or Target - they would have been half the price, but it saved me a trip!) All in all, it came out a few dollars cheaper than ordering online and I was able to take it home with me and get it done immediately instead of waiting for them to ship. (I'm a bit jaded as everything I've ordered lately has taken eons to ship out and get here.)
Side note... buying spray paint is now harder than buying beer or drugs, I'd bet. I bought my first can at Walmart when I had the doodle in tow. We plucked it off the shelf ourselves and then did self checkout. You now have to be 18 to buy spray paint, because of the shenanigans kids have gotten into with spray cans I guess. With my back to the self checkout attendant, she immediately hit the button to clear the request for checking my age, I swiped my card and off we went. I came up short a little with that one can, so when I was out in a different part of town later that day I decided to pick up another can at Michaels only to find that the spray paints are under lock and key with metal bars that I imagine would rival our local county jail. So I went and flagged down an employee, and he apologized he doesn't have the "authority" to unlock the spray paint but he'd get his manager. So the manager came and got the can I needed and told me to just let them know at the front that I had a can being held for me. I told her that was all I needed so I could take it myself and she said it wasn't allowed and she had to escort the can to the checkout. I raised an eyebrow and she explained that she was tired of cleaning up spray paint all over her store. So I get to checkout, and they were opening a new register due to the growing line, and it turns out the paint was on the opposite side of the checkout area with a cashier who was busy with someone else. So that was all just weird and annoying, and then she asks for my ID. I didn't hide my exasperation as I not only show it to her but when she takes it from me and scrutinizes it and checks my picture. I said, "seriously? do I look like I'm not old enough to go to prom yet? Next year I will have earned my right to buy spray paint TWICE OVER. You'd think I'm trying to buy something illegal!" She gave a robotic grin and I high tailed it out of there. Long story short, get your spray paint at a home improvement store or walmart where they don't have spray paint skeletons in their closets.
Moving on... I had about 23" width left on my 1 yard length of fabric so it worked out great, and I still have a few scraps left for a rainy day. :) The front of the boxes are about 10"x12" so I cut 4 squares just larger than that to roll the sides in for a nice finished edge. I decided not to get fancy so I skipped all sewing or stitch witchery and just rolled and ironed a 1/4" hem on the sides and left the top and bottom raw. Then I coated the whole front of the box with mod podge, and laid the fabric down smoothing any bubbles or wrinkles. Then I used some hot glue on the bottom to glue the raw edge to the under side of the box, and same at the top attaching to the inside of the box. Finally where the open handles are on the box, I made some cuts and wrapped that fabric up/down/to the sides so the handles are usable.
Here they are all finished with the hanging racks tucked inside.
and finally in their new home. I don't think there's room for another one on the bottom shelf because the modem is there along with all the power cords. However I'd be lying if I said the lack of symmetry doesn't bother me. :) I might have to figure something else out. The boxes themselves are just what I wanted and were super easy once my background check, blood test, and retina scan turned out ok buying the spraypaint at Michaels. This is an awfully real sneak peek of the new office!! By the way, the upholstery shop is short handed this week so his Wednesday estimate is now Saturday. :( I'll be blogging the whole office as soon as the chairs arrive and I get photos!
Maybe they know how much of a crazy crafter you are and thus holding back the spray paint :) I do love the fabric...
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