Twine "Wicker" Lampshade Tutorial

 

My home decor style tends to change quite frequently or at least every few years. I'm going away from the stark, clean and uncluttered rooms to something a bit more comfortable and homey. I have always loved wicker but with cats it's just not possible. Or it is but it looks like heck within a week. So I decided to incorporate the look by making a faux wicker lampshade from my newly remodeled half bath!

For this project you will need:

 Lampshade

Twine in 2 colors 

Aleene's Quick Dry Tacky Glue

Paintbrush (not a nice brush)

Scissors
Clothespins

First up grab yourself a lampshade. Any lampshade will do for the most part. I chose a white one because it was the cheapest and it allows light to filter through helping to give that "wicker" look.


Grab your Aleene's Quick Dry Tacky Glue and shoo your cat out of the way if necessary!


Starting this is frustrating. Just going to tell you that flat out. You'll want to glue it on super quickly but that's not how this is going to go down.

Apply glue to about an inch of the top of the lampshade. Apply your twine to that area and hold down for a minute or two. Allow it to dry before moving on otherwise it slips and slides all over the place. See that glue on the right side and on the twine, so trust me on this!


Continue running the twine around the topside of the lampshade. You don't have to wait for each section to dry this go 'round because...


That sucker is going to be kept down with clothespins!


You'll want to be sure that you aren't actually gluing the pins to the lampshade. Now go ahead and let this part dry completely.


Grab that paintbrush and start smearing glue around just below that line of twine.


Using your finger apply the twine firmly to the lampshade.


To speed along wrapping the twine around the lampshade, you can spin the lampshade using one had and holding the twine in the other. It's kind of like winding up a bobbin or something.


I went for bold stripes! When you're happy with the stripe size, cut the length and hold with your finger a moment at the end of the twine so that it really sticks on.


Continue on with your next color. You'll start the new piece next to the end of the previous twine. Hold a moment for it to start sticking well and then keep wrapping around.


And you just keep on going. After a while you can actually start brushing the glue on for about an inch below without making a big mess. You can technically start before this point BUT it takes a while to get the hang of wrapping the twine around without said mess. You have all of the facts so you can decide how you want to go about it!


When you start getting toward the bottom flip that sucker over and keep going. Try and change colors in the same area so that can be the backside of your shade. See how you can see how the colors don't quite match up? That is my backside... of the shade :)


Light that sucker up and it looks awfully wicker-like to me!


Paired with a matching lamp base, you're all sorts of set!


My little lamp with the faux twine shade is adorning my little half bath. It's small enough it sits easily on the vanity. With the new shade it's a show-stopping addition to the bathroom!


I love it so much and it complements the new towels and rug and oh how I LOVE matchy matchy!

Want to see more of my projects? Check out my blog Dream a Little Bigger!