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Miy Budget Decor
G e t C r e a t i v e f o r a l o t l e s s
"f o r t h e p u r e j o y o f m a k i n g t h i n g s"

Miycreations Project article
and photographs
by Madeleine M Langlois

Spot This Trend:
Why skimp on style,
get designer looks,
create them yourself for a lot less.

Hands-on time: Under 1 hour.
Total time: plus several hours for the
vinyl film to fully bond to it’s surface.
Skill: Easy and kid friendly (see variations).
Project cost: Under $5.00 per decorative
adhesive roll (enough for several projects).
Total project cost $15.00.

Materials & tools:
• A plain lamp and lampshade with a flat surface (plain, new or old in size of
choice)
• Decorative self-adhesive vinyl, wood-grain pattern (comes in 137 cm x 45 cm
rolls, available at discount and at Hardware stores in assorted patterns and
colours)
• Circle craft punches in assorted sizes, or a circle template or a rotary circle
scissors, such as those used for scrapbooking
• Pencil
• A straight-edged tool and a cloth
• Metal letters (the type used for Scrapbooking)
• Glue dots
• Adhesive spray (optional to use for extra bonding on fabric lampshades)

(Materials for this project are available at arts, craft and hardware stores.)

Do you have a plain lamp or lampshade that could used a little style revival, or
an older lampshade that is looking a little tired or has a few spots or
markings? Here’s a great budget décor idea, transform drab to fab in less
than one hour with decorative self-adhesive vinyl circle accents. Nowadays
self-adhesive coverings come in amazing colours, styles and patterns such as
this simulated wood-grain pattern that really looks like wood. A few vinyl
circles shapes combined with copper scrapbooking letters is all you need to
re-vive a lamp into a fabulous decorative piece.

Using decorative simulated wood-grain adhesive vinyl is a great way to
fashion otherwise plain items around your home. It’s really easy to use and it
looks great for a lot less! The adhesive backing allows you to reposition the
vinyl during installation without leaving a sticky residue. The decorative vinyl
can be repositioned because it only fully bonds to its surface after several
hours.

Adhesive vinyl sticks to all smooth, dry and dustless surfaces. Dust and clean
the lamp base and lampshade before starting the project.

Unroll a length of wood-grain vinyl, and then re-roll it in the opposite direction
to flatten it out. Place the vinyl length on a flat work surface onto the paper
backing side. Use a circle template to draw approximately 18 circles in various
sizes (depending on the size of the lampshade) and cut them out. Craft circle
punches and rotary circle scissors can also be used to cut circles in assorted
sizes, they both work really well and make perfect cut circle shapes.

Peel off the paper backing and apply the vinyl circle shapes randomly or
strategically around the base of the lampshade. Use a cloth or a straight-
edged tool to remove creases and air bubbles by applying light pressure from
the middle to the outer edges of the circle cut-outs. If needed, reposition to
eliminate wrinkles, but be sure not to pull or stretch the shapes. Apply one
vinyl circle shape onto the base of the lamp in the same manner. Paper,
glass, metal or acrylic lampshades work best. For extra bonding on fabric
lampshades you will need to apply a little spray adhesive at the back of the
cut circles prior to applying them to the lampshade.

For extra appeal, embellish your lamp and lampshade with brass (metal,
pewter or of choice) letters. Apply a glue dot at the back of each letter and
press it onto the lampshade and lamp base. Apply the letters over some of
the wood-grain circles, at the center, or off-center at different intervals. For
fun, I applied the word watt onto the lamp base.

Variations:

Let the kids be creative during their upcoming school brake, have them
decorate and their bedroom lampshades. They can cut out assorted shapes
from stars to dinosaurs using stencils as templates. They can then
personalize their creation with assorted embellishments from beads to
pompoms borders. Use small cardboard or foam scrapbooking letters to spell
out the child’s name.

Vinyl stripes and squares shapes also add future interest to assorted items. I
made placemats using white stripes and the circle negative applied over the
wood-grain vinyl.

Vinyl decorative coverings are truly multipurpose with endless possibilities. It’s
a great way to quickly revamp all sorts of other items, around your home and
office, to cover shelves surfaces, toy boxes, toolboxes, pencil holders, storage
box containers, trash bins, picture frames, placemats and even to spruce up
filling cabinets.

Adhesive decorative coverings are available in a variety of bright colours,
glimmers, metallic’s, textures such as cork, faux-leather and velour’s designed
all to inspire your creativity to decorate with style.
The leftover vinyl pieces can even be used for embellish scrapbooking pages.

Tips: Pierce stubborn bubbles with a needle and squeeze the air out.
To clean, simply wipe with a damp cloth or sponge using a mild soap.

• WATT's Up....
Decorating for less, that is!

Decorating for less;
Stylish Screen with
Metallic paints

Vinyl stripes and squares shapes also
add future interest to assorted items. I
made placemats using white stripes
and the circle negative applied over
the wood-grain vinyl.