Projects for Spring: Give your lamp a makeover.

Now that spring is on the way, you'll probably be wanting to make some color changes around the home to lighten things up. Rather than go out and buy lighter colored accessories to make your home more bright and cheery, there are some easy ways to re-invent what you already have. I will be posting different projects on different days. Todays project will be simple ways to re-invent your lamp shade. Get a whole new look without having to buy a new one. These were taken from Better Homes and Garden.

1. Give it a paper or Fabric makeover. Covering your lamp with paper is an easy, inexpensive and effective way to quickly make a new lamp shade. Trace the top and bottom of the shade by rolling it on wrapping paper, allowing extra to fold ends. Cut. Use cut paper as a pattern for a second piece if needed. Place paper on shade, aligning patterns. Fold ends, securing seams with double-sided tape. Glue ribbon on top and bottom. (The same technique can be used with fabric, but instead of double sided tape, attatch the fabric with spray adhesive.)

2. Use stick ons. This fabulous 10-minute embellishment is as easy as peel and stick. You can use just about any self-adhesive sticker, but we recommend these repositionable vinyl-coated die-cut ones from wallies.com ($12 for two sheets) to decorate the outside or inside of a shade.

3. Dress up the inside. A hint of color and pattern is an eye-catching touch on the inside of a shade, especially for hanging lamps. Make a pattern by tracing the shape of your lampshade onto paper, allowing enough to overlap ends. Cut fabric using the pattern, coat the wrong side with spray adhesive, and carefully adhere the fabric to the inside of the shade. If you have difficulty controlling the fabric as you work, first back it with paper to stiffen it, then use adhesive to attach the paper side to the shade. Glue bias tape along the top and bottom edges to give the lining a finished look.

4.Lovely Doodle Designs
To create this fun shade, start at the seam with a black opaque paint marker, draw evenly spaced vertical lines for different numbers and sizes of circles. Every fifth row draw a series of single circles; connect the circles with loose, squiggly lines. Then apply the lighter color paint first, let dry. Next, paint the darker circles.

5. Wrap It with Ribbon
Ribbon wrapped around a plain paper shade creates the look of pleated silk. To keep this project affordable, we hit the clearance bin and found four 8-yard ribbon spools for $2.45 each. Use fabric tape to secure a ribbon end (and subsequent ends) to the inside of the shade. Wind ribbon around the shade, overlapping more at the top than at the bottom if using a tapered shade.