A Whole New Light On Lampshades

Some time ago, I bought a dozen small paper lampshades at a local reuse/recycle shop. So many ideas floated through my head as to how to decorate them! 

I knew this would be a perfect project for my art class students to toy with so I set out various items to spark the imagination and we got busy. With buttons, paints, ribbons, faux flowers, and more, we got to work. Time flies when you're having fun and in a couple of hours we celebrated our creativity!

We stationed the lampshades on tall wine glasses (sans wine!) and placed tealights and inside the glasses for a soft glow. How pretty these would be as table decorations at a wedding or other party. Sweet and simple with just the right amount of pizzazz!

I have a few bare lampshades left over and am anxious to hear how they tell me they would like to be "dressed". A favorite poem in a fancy script? A feathered shade? Paper punched designs? A beaded fringe? The possibilities are endless!

Solar Glam In A Jar

Light up the night with this quick and easy project! With just a few supplies from a dollar store, and free energy from the sun, you can have little pots of glowing light to brighten up your garden and patio.

Supplies needed:

• Mason jars of any size or clear glass bottles
• Clear and colored glass marbles, stones, or strings of beads
• Small solar lights (sold with ground stakes)

How to make these:

• Pull the solar lights off of the stakes 
• Fill the jars with the glass stones or beads
• Press the solar lights into the jar of stones or beads so that the top of the lights are even with the top of the jar (you can choose to use the mason jar's screw-on ring or not)
• Set the jars in the sun to let them soak up the light and get energized

Place these "mini lanterns" around your deck, patio, porch, or anywhere that you want a bit off nighttime glamour. You could bring the jars into the house at night so that you have soft glowing lights in a guest bathroom or bedroom as a pretty nightlight. These would make a beautiful tabletop decoration or garden feature at your next party!