Mood Lighting

This week, I decided to make a lampshade from fabric and aluminum.

I purchased a sheet of decorative punched aluminum (radiator cover, etc.), a wooden disc, a ceramic lamp base, a package of cheesecloth and a bottle of Aleene’s Fabric Stiffener and Draping Liquid. I cut the aluminum to size and drilled several holes at each end for rivets.

Step one: bend the metal –

Step two: rivet –

Step three: soak cheesecloth in fabric stiffener and drape –

Step four: wire lamp (repurposing an old extension cord) –

Step five: attach lamp to base –

Step six: let there be light!

All in all, I’m pretty happy with it. I really like the contrast of the chaotic/organic form of the fabric with the rigid geometry of the metal, especially as the metal is fairly well hidden when the light is off and comes as a bit of a surprise when it’s turned on. I think I’ll put it on an end table somewhere.