Swing Arm Lamp 2.0

Last week I was writing about my new swing arm lamps and realized that it was one of those posts that goes on and on. It really needed to be a part 1/part 2 kind of post. So, here is the part 2, swing arm lamp 2.0.

If you missed how we put the swing arm lamps together, you can see how we put them together here.

When last I left you, the swing arm lamps of my dreams had been installed and were ready to use.  They were beautiful and almost perfect. However, I felt like the lamp shades were a little plain.

I wanted the shades to have a custom feel. These shades needed some personality. A little ribbon and a vinyl decal came to the plain shades rescue!

The first thing I did, was to cut out two vinyl decals on my Silhouette. I won’t show you how that’s done, because that is a whole other post in itself!

Step 2 was to attach the ribbon to the shade. I like using a fabric glue, due to the fact that you don’t see any glue bleed through the ribbon or the shade. You get a nice clean, durable look.

Simply apply a bead of fabric glue to the shade, then lay the ribbon on top. Gently pat down the ribbon to insure that the ribbon sticks to the shade.

When I got to the back side of the shade, I used clothes pins to attach the ribbon firmly to the shade.  I added ribbon to both the top and bottom of my shades.

Next it was time to put the vinyl decal on the shade.

Peeling off the back paper, I left the decal attached to the transfer paper.

Since the lamp shade is curved,  I found the center of the decal’s design and gently placed ONLY  the center of the decal onto the middle of the shade.

Gently adhere the decal to the shade by pushing down on the transfer paper, starting in the middle and working your way out.

Once the decal was firmly attached, peel off the transfer tape.

This is my finished swing arm lamp 2.o! I am in Lurve. Seriously.  I was a little concerned that the vinyl would peel off due to the heat from the bulb, but so far I’ve had no problems.

The swing arm lamps 2.o aren’t plain anymore! They certainly have the color and personality that I was looking for. The best part is that the changes I made were really simple to do and inexpensive, but they make such a big impact, not only to the swing arm lamps, but to the entire room. You gotta love that!

                                 Tammy

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