Doctor on the Side

Happy 4th of July weekend, everyone!  Did you get the whole weekend off?  I didn’t… I spent all day at the NICU (neonatal ICU) yesterday, and more than one baby decided to stop breathing on us at the same time.  I almost passed out with stress.  The kiddos did fine though, because the people I work with are GENIUSES!  Anyway, do you get Monday off???  I DO!  If you’re feeling crafty but need some inspiration for your day off, perhaps you’ll like my recent project…

A few weeks ago, I was SO MAD at our moving company for being ELEVEN days late in bringing our stuff up from Houston to Boston.  I was ridiculously furious, and very tempted to vent about their incompetence on DotS…  But my blog has no room for negative energy.  Instead, I channeled my anger by finding a Walmart and purchasing supplies to make some sweet new lampshades for our freakishly empty living room.

As with my last DIY project, this one was inspired by my favorite (but usually off-limits due to priciness) store: Anthropologie.  I am especially obsessed with Anthro’s handmade lampshades.  I happen to own one particularly awesome one thanks to Jeffrey’s parents .  However, I wanted ALL my lampshades to be as cool!  Deciding that $100 a lampshade is just ridiculous, I made them myself.  For my project, I used this lampshade as inspiration.  I love the traditional simplicity of the plain white flower, and thought such a design would perfectly contrast the bright abstract paintings my grandma painted for me.  So this is what I started with…

Before: plain and boring, neutral lampshade from Walmart

You will need (click to see pictures of each item):

1. A plain lampshade of your choice: $12 for the above lampshade
2. At least 3 different pretty pieces of fabric of your choice; chose fabrics of different textures and shades of color; get about a square yard of each, and make sure that one of the fabrics is felt (felt is thick and will serve as a sturdy base on which to create your lampshade’s designs): about $8
3. A few interesting buttons of your choice: $2 for 3 of the buttons shown
4. Yarn in at least two shades of green: about $4 each
5. Funky, playful trim to go around the perimeter of the lampshade’s bottom edge (make sure to measure the perimeter of your lampshade, and buy enough trim!): about $4
6. Small quantity of leather trimming: about $2
7. High-temperature hot glue gun and glue sticks (low-temp glue guns cool too quickly, and don’t give you enough time to work once you’ve dispensed the melted glue): $6
8. Scissors
9. Pen or pencil

Easy breezy steps:

1. Based on the size and shape of your choice, sketch the outline of the flower you want to make for your lampshade on the felt fabric, and cut it out; this will be the base upon which you make the flower
2. Sketch and cut out petals of different shapes and sizes using all the different pieces of fabric you purchased; you will also need a small, circular piece of felt to place at the center of the flower once all the petals have come on
3. Using the fabric glue, start gluing the petals to your felt flower base; glue the largest petals first, and slowly work your way to the small ones in layers; only put fabric glue on the inner edge of the petals (because the fabric glue will go through the fabric and be messy-looking, so you want to minimize the area of the petals that looks like this)
4. Continue to glue all of the petals until your flower looks something like this:
5. You will notice that the center of your flower is really ugly-looking, with all the overlapping petals and the fabric glue seeping through; using the HOT GLUE gun now, place the circular piece of felt over the middle; hot glue has advantages and disadvantages: it is less durable, but it does not seep through fabric the way fabric glue does!
6. Since you only glued the petals from the inner edge, the rest of the petals will be pretty flimsy; you can now use a small amount of hot glue over the middle and outer portions of the petals to secure them in place; also using the hot glue gun, you can now decorate the center of the flower using the buttons you picked out
7. It’s now time to make the leaves (this takes a little bit more patience!); once again, sketch and cut out the leaf shape out of felt; using the fabric glue, start by gluing a small piece of yarn vertically down the middle of the leaf;  subsequently, glue individual pieces of yarn around both sides of this central piece; the pieces of yarn used will slowly grow in length; work carefully from side to side until the whole area of the leaf is covered in yarn
8. Make a second leaf in the same manner using the other shade of yarn
9. Finish off the leaves by hot gluing some of the leather trimming down the middle
10. Using the hot glue gun, glue the flower and the leaves onto your lampshade on the location of your choice
11. Perfect the look of your lampshade by hot gluing the funky trim around the perimeter of the bottom edge

And the big reveal………………………..

After: Affordable, faux Anthropologie lampshade!

What do you think?!?!!!!  I made two and placed them on opposite corners of the living room, and they get compliments all day long!  If you decide to try this yourself, send me pictures of the finished product!  I’d love to see what you create.  And again, happy 4th!

(Wasn’t this so much better than a post about why BEKINS MOVERS suck?)

For specific questions, message me and I’ll do my best to offer helpful tips.  Also, check out the new and improved About DotS section, which has been changed to reflect my transition from med school to residency.  And if you’d like emails about my new posts, please subscribe by clicking on the “Get Post Updates!” section on the right-hand sidebar.

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