Guest Post: Bliss!
I have the biggest treat for you today! My new friend, Michaela over at Bliss! sent me over her awesome DIY post with all of the details on how to make a ruffled lamp — It’s so fun, cheery, and can be easily customizable with different colors! I absolutely adore it and can definitely see it in a child’s nursery… Great job, Michaela! — By the way, you HAVE to head on over to her blog. I don’t know how she does it, but she finds the best party idea inspirations you can ever dream of. Prepare yourself, it might just be your favorite new blog to follow ;)
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Hey Urban Scarlet readers! I’m Michaela of bliss! and I’m so happy to share this little diy project with you today. I made this ruffled lamp last weekend for my little daughter. She chose the colors herself, so it may seem more like a pinata than a lamp to you. But imagine it in muted, pastel tones or pure white and it would make a gorgeous piece for a bedroom. Or you could make smaller ones as party decor.
But let’s get started!
To make a large lamp like this, you need the following materials and tools:
5 Crepe paper sheets
transparent tape or masking tape (just check what sort of tape sticks to paper and lamp)
scissors
paper glue
Start by cutting the crepe paper into strips. The width should roughly be twice the of the size you’d like the ruffles to be in the end, if not a bit more.
Then start attaching the crepe paper strips to the lamp as shown below. Ruffle a small part of the strip up as much as you want and stick it onto the very bottom part of the lamp with a piece of tape (note that i confused the bottom part with the top of the lamp, so i had to dismantle the whole inner part later – don’t be as stupid, please). Attach the next bit, and so on. The more ruffly you want it to me, the more crepe paper you’ll need. And the shorter you want the ruffles; the more layers of ruffles you want, the longer this project will take you.
This took me about 15 minutes. Change the color whenever you feel the time is right. Or don’t – these things would look pretty in just one color, too.
To stick the tape really tightly onto the lamp, you may have to reach inside and press against it from the inside from time to time. Keep going. At this point you might ask yourself why you didn’t make the ruffles longer and perhaps a bit less ruffly ;)
But it’ll be worth it when you get to this stage. Attach the last bits of tape inside the lamp frame, so you get the ruffles all the way to the top of the lamp. For the very last row, use paper glue to attach the crepe instead of tape.
Now you’re almost done. Hooray! At some parts of the upper half of the lamp, some tape may show from underneath the ruffles – just use little dots of paper glue on those bits and stick the paper above onto it to hide the tape.
And that’s it! Install the lamp shade like you’d do with any other on your ceiling. If you’re concerned about the heat of the bulb and its effects on the crepe paper, especially when making a smaller lamp shade, check if you can find flame retardant crepe. Or use an energy saving bulb that doesn’t heat up as much as regular ones.
You could also make smaller versions of these and use them with twinkle lights instead of normal lamps/bulbs.
Thanks for reading and I hope you got a little bit inspired to get crafty yourselves now!
I’ll be seeing you soon for a neat little project Justine and I have planned for all of you. Can’t wait!
categories: Design, DIY, Guest Post
COMMENTS
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Absolutely brilliant! I love anything crepe paper and most definitely anything lantern-y :) Thanks for the tutorial!
Tiffany Johnson on March 29, 2011 -
I’m in love. This is SUCH a great tutorial! And I can’t believe how amazing the results are. Really, really awesome idea. Thanks for sharing!
viv @ the eclectic life on March 29, 2011 -
Thanks for letting me guest blog here, Justine.
Looking forward to the upcoming projects! Yay!
Michaela @ bliss! on March 29, 2011 -
love, love, and more love!!! That is amazingly gorgeous!
Jennie on March 29, 2011 -
this would be so perfect for a cinco de mayo party!
Gloria on March 29, 2011 -
Great tutorial, it’s so adorable!
Meagan on March 29, 2011 -
SWOON!!!!!! I am pinning this to my party pinterest board. I absolutely LOVE this Justine!!!!
P.s Guess what arrived at my door yesterday?! I spent like 3 hours straight playing with it. Thank you so much Justine. Seriously, thank you.
Amy @ Crooked Stove Top on March 29, 2011 -
Hi Justine and Michaela I can’t see the images on this post :(
ps: Congrats on the branding project you are working on, can’t wait to see it!
A Casa da Vá on March 29, 2011 -
This is AWESOME! I’ll have to make one of these someday!
Such a great, FUN idea!
Thanks for sparking my creativity! xoMerissa on March 29, 2011 -
What an adorable, cheerful project-I love this!
Lena on March 29, 2011 -
hey! what a lovely tutorial!! the lamp definitely gives any room that festive/happy whoomph! Thanks for visiting my blog~ I’m glad i now have discovered yours too!!
albeit... on March 29, 2011 -
really cute – i like the idea of doing a bunch of small ones!
audrey marie on March 29, 2011 -
loving this-wow! thanks for posting!
xohannah on March 29, 2011 -
Great fun!
Elizabeth@themustardceiling on March 29, 2011 -
oh man oh man oh man! i want to make this for my birthday party next month! so fantastic. gorgeous color scheme too!
j.jennifer on March 29, 2011 -
I’m going to have to try my hand at this when I get a chance. Such lovely colors!
ps- thanks for stopping by my blog. I’m subscribing to yours right now :)
Jennelle on March 30, 2011 -
This is soooo cool!! I love those paper laterns and how you jazzed it up to make them more fun :) Great tutorial!
Maddy on March 30, 2011 -
this is a brilliant idea. i love the turnout!
lizzie on March 30, 2011 -
I wanna make one! Super cute.
JESSICA DEFINE on March 30, 2011 -
Love this little project, it is so cute. I’m all about parties and great DIY ideas.
Melissa Allam on March 31, 2011 -
Brilliant! Cannot wait to try this out!
Anna @ IHOD on April 1, 2011 -
I’m quite smitten with all the lovely feedback here! So lovely <3
Michaela @ bliss! on April 1, 2011 -
Wow. This is so cool! How perfect for a little girl’s room. (Or any room, really.)
p.s. Have a great trip to Hawaii!Eva / Sycamore Street Press on April 4, 2011 -
oh wow that’s really cute :D i love it!
Jenny on April 5, 2011 -
That is so cute, what a great idea and Michaela made it look very easy. Thanks for sharing!!!
Katie @ Eye Spy DIY on April 19, 2011 -
I love this so much! I featured it today on my blog :) Grab a featured button if you would like! http://mygirlishwhims.blogspot.com/2011/04/your-whims-wednesday-3-and-features.html
Rebecca @ My Girlish Whims on April 20, 2011 -
[...] Left: Lampara con/sin Pajaritos by Marcelina ::: Right: Ruffled Lamp by Bliss on Urban Scarlet [...]
Oh My Green | DIY Lamp Ideas on May 8, 2011 -
[...] Kreppipaperista tulee mieleen liimaiset sormet ja päiväkerhon pääsiäisaskartelut. Näinkin kivan näköinen bilevalo voi silti kreppipaperistakin syntyä, kun sen yhdistää riisipaperivalaisimeen. Ohjetta täältä. [...]
Kevättiaisen siivet ja loput juhlaideat | Kotilo on May 29, 2011 -
Hats off to woevehr wrote this up and posted it.
Nonie on August 9, 2011 -
Great tutorial, it’s so adorable!
ataşehir perde on January 6, 2012 -
this would be so perfect for a cinco de mayo party!
perde on January 6, 2012 -
hey! what a lovely tutorial!! the lamp definitely gives any room that festive/happy whoomph! Thanks for visiting my blog~ I’m glad i now have discovered yours too!!
kartal perdeciler on January 6, 2012 -
[...] I love this DIY made from a paper lantern which is something I never thought about using when making a piñata. All you do is layer the lantern with streamers of your choice and it makes a neat ruffled effect. Since there is usually a hole in the top, you fill your lantern piñata with the goodies and hang up for everyone to take a swing at. It is a little sad that something so pretty gets beat up isn’t it? Oh well, at least with these piñatas, they are so easy to make, you can just keep on making them. (via Urban Scarlet) [...]
Party Decor: Not Your Average Piñata | Occasions Magazine on May 2, 2012 -
[...] at Bliss posted this clever lamp shade tutorial over at Urban Scarlet, you could easily adapt it to suit any room scheme and use it again after [...]
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[...] at Bliss posted this clever lamp shade tutorial over at Urban Scarlet, you could easily adapt it to suit any room scheme and use it again after [...]
