Big Girl Lamp.

The finished product. Lil loves it!

A little peek at the design underneath.

Yes...I painted after I put the ruffles on.

I didn't know if I would paint it until the original

design was coming through when the light came thru the shade.

Here is a picture of the tiny ribbon detail.

Lilly wanted a lamp beside her bed. I agreed with her decision. I searched for a suitable light finding many $50 and UP bases with an additional cost of $35 for a lamp shade! No way was I gonna pay that much for a light for my 3 year old daughter's room. I found a perfect base at Home Goods. (I am not a photographer so color doesn't come through very well.) It is the most lovely hue of antique 1950's pink. The shape of the base is fantastic but the shade that came with it was odd. It was a cute shade by itself and I could have decorated an entire girl's room based on the shade alone. The motif would not work, though, in Lil's room. There were drawings of cute girls in bright colors so I was either going to sell the shade or use it on a design job down the road or cover it up. I picked up some pre-made ruffles at a fabric store (Char is most likely groaning) and glued them on with fabric glue. Then I painted the inside of the shade with enamel paint. I've seen this done before but never done it myself. I love how it worked. I am a somewhat sloppy though. I just want things done so I used  a foam brush instead of a fine bristle brush. Enamel is somewhat forgiving and I don't mind seeing my brush strokes inside the shade. I think that adds some interest. I picked a pale shade of blue for the inside. Then I picked up an interesting ribbon detail to add to the top of the shade (I adhered that with some scrapbooking dots. You can't see them at all and they are just the right size for the teeny tiny ribbon.) I love how it turned out and all for under $35 dollars! I think I spent a total of $12 for the lamp in Max's room but for Lilly I wanted something a bit more special without a whole lot of money being shelled out. The whole project only took me about half and hour. I probably could have done it cheaper with one of the lamps in my storage cupboard and some good spray paint. I'll revamp one and sell it at a garage sale! Fun, fun!