illuminating

The absence of light seems to make me a bit preoccupied with it. I thought I'd better do something about it - something better than complaining. So I bought a couple of second hand lamps and made some new shades for them. The lamps are from Søholm and made in the 60ies, I think. I found them in a local secondhand shop for practically nothing. I love the blue glaze on both . The shades was yellowed plastic, so I got rid of them, but kept the wire frame for redecorating.

For this lamp I sacrificed a childrens book about animals. It has the lovely muted, soft colours of old fashioned printing which I like very much. We have tons of old childrens books, so I felt ok butchering it. (I did save a few goodies though, like the owl above the lamp. And the rest won't go to waste, the children are cutting it all up and are going to use it for various projects). When the light's on, you can see the backside of the paper, but I really don't mind about that (my little one doesn't agree, he says I ought to make another one). It's a bit tricky to make a perfect fit with the circles - so I didn't (it would probably involve some math skills I'm not blessed with). I've decided noone will notice any minor inaccuracies ...

 

 

Making this was easy peasy, just folding a length of vintage wallpaper, making holes near the top and string it. I folded without measuring, next time I'll bother to locate a ruler. Or then again, perhaps I won't. If you prefer straight lines and everything in order you should use a ruler if you want to make a lampshade. I really liked making these, even though untill recently I'd thought this kind of lamp was totally out. But now it's definitely in! Must try to find more lamps, I would like to try to make one with fabric too. Does anyone have some ideas for lampshades they'd like to share, please do!