Decorating a Lamp Shade with Vinyl

Posted on August 16, 2013 by Roeshel

Lamp Makeover

Plain white lamp shades are the perfect clean slate for adding a little DIY color and pattern to a room. I used vinyl on the inside of my shade to make it a little more special. When the lamp is turned off, the design is subtle, almost invisible but when the lamp is turned on, there’s a sweet little reminder to “shine bright”.

Materials I used:

old lamp
FrogTape® Multi-surface
spray paint (Valspar Indigo)
Ikea Jonsbo lamp shade
Glossy adhesive vinyl (turquoise) from Happy Crafters
optional: elastic gemstone bracelet

Tools: Silhouette Cameo

How I did it:

After taping off the light socket and cord using FrogTape®, I spray painted my old lamp a pretty navy and let it dry. Then simply removed the FrogTape to reveal a nice clean cord and nice clean switch and socket.

For the vinyl wording: I created my lettering in the Silhouette Design Studio. Be sure to right click the text when finished and “flip horizontally” so it shows backwards. IMPORTANT: MIRROR IMAGE the TEXT!

I also used a flower garland shape for my design in addition to “shine bright”.

I sent both to my Silhouette Cameo to “cut” once I adjusted my settings for vinyl. If you don’t have a vinyl cutter, you could also use vinyl decals if the design looks the same backwards (remember: text must be flipped horizontal/mirror image for this project).

I then removed all of the unnecessary vinyl from my designs by weeding away the vinyl that isn’t a part of the design…

and added the transfer paper.

I removed the waxpaper backing and placed my designs on the inside of the lamp shade. I used a credit card to rub down the design for transferring. Then I removed the transfer paper.

Note: I found cutting and adding my flower design in sections of two to be the best way with the rounded/tapered lamp shade. Keep vinyl pieces individual/smaller sized to go around the curved lampshade to prevent wrinkling when applying.

I added the turquoise bracelet for a little additional bling.

Here’s a shot of the inside and outside. I do love how the turquoise vinyl lettering on the inside shows navy-ish on the outside. I couldn’t have planned that better if I tried!

It’s perfect on a side table in our family room for a little extra reading light…

Lamp off…

Lamp on…

NEAT! Love it! I also thought “Note to self: Relax.”, a monogram or a damask pattern would have been pretty. What would your lamp shade say?

*This is sponsored by FrogTape®. FrogTape provided by Shurtech. The opinions are completely my own based on my own experience.

Happy Crafters supplied the vinyl for this sponsored blog post.

DIY Serving Tray Makeover

Posted on July 31, 2013 by Roeshel

DIY Serving Tray Makeover:

I found this old serving tray hanging on a nail in our basement stairwell. We’ve been in this house quite a while and I’ve never noticed it. lol! In my defense, I’m talking about the dark creepy stairwell to the 80+ year old scary basement (I prefer to use the newer stairwell).

before: scratched up

It was the perfect project to try out the new chevron pattern Shape Tape from FrogTape which also comes in a wave and scallop pattern. FrogTape sharp paint lines and fun patterns…gotta love that!

Both sides of the try got a good spray of paint + primer in gold. I let it cure/dry for a few days.

To get a perfect chevron zig zag, you’ll need to cut identical pieces (not just cut off continuous pieces from the roll of Shape Tape).

Then peel away one side of the backing…

smooth into place…

and remove the other side of the backing and smoothing the adhesive into place.

Be sure that all tape edges are secure…

I taped up the handles so they’d remain protected/gold too…

then sprayed a top coat of “ocean breeze” by Krylon and removed the tape once the spray paint dried for a couple of hours. Nice crisp paint lines!

Ta-da! Love it. Although Bri thinks it’s a pretty tray with “bacon” decals. Hey, I love bacon so all is well! 😉

Now it’s a serving tray that coordinates with our guest room…

Serving trays are so fun to makeover. I still use the one I did a few months ago all.the.time. Trays make great photo props.

DIY herringbone serving tray

Great for not only serving, but more often – displaying vignettes on a coffee table or side table.

*This sponsored by FrogTape. FrogTape provided by Shurtech. The opinions are completely my own based on my own experience.

Ps. Fun FrogTape Pin to Win Sweepstakes now through August 5th!

Framed Pet Silhouettes

Posted on July 30, 2013 by Roeshel

I love silhouette shapes, don’t you? In need of some sort of framed art in our hallway, I decided to whip up some silhouettes of my pets to frame.

We have two pets in our home…Lalka, our ragdoll cat:

CocoRosie, our Italian greyhound:

Actual pictures of them are something I haven’t framed but black silhouettes on burlap are just about as sweet!

Materials I used:

Two 8×10 picture frames
Burlap
Silhouette textured adhesive cardstock from Happy Crafters

What I did:

1. I cut out two 8×10 pieces of burlap (and ironed them using my irons highest setting and spritzing the burlap with water (not steam) on both sides).

2. Using my Silhouette designer studio software, I purchased a cat and greyhound silhouette from the Silhouette store and created two designs for cutting, one of an 8 x 10 matte for my white adhesive card stock and a dog and cat measured to fit inside of the matte on black adhesive card stock. I also saved my designs to cut out more adhesive cat and dog shapes for making handmade cards (using the adhesive card stock is like making your own custom stickers and adhesive labels).