Stenciled Lamp Shade

My old, tired floor lamp was in dire need of a little makeover. This lamp was handed down to me from my ex-husband's grandmother, and was way ahead of its time when it came to lighting options.

It has separate up-light controls and 3 separately controlled reading light bulbs. I was not about to retire this little treasure! I did give it an antiqued copper finish several years ago,
and added that little beading to the plain shade.

The silk shade was hard to find and I remember saying "ouch" when I purchased it a few years ago. I thought the shade was too plain then, but because it was so expensive, I was hesitant to take my paint brushes to it right away.

Finally, I could no longer stand the plainness of it all, and decided to revamp this lamp. I bought a can of my favorite green spray paint and gave the base several light coats.

Next, the shade! I removed the beads I had previously attached and found a stencil that I loved. These Ginkgo leaves come from Lynn Brehm's stencil line. I purchased green and brown fabric paints and began my stenciling. As always, I used a very dry brush method, off loading my brush onto a paper towel before stenciling. I used a light, swirling motion for the leaves, allowing some of them to be very faint and fade into the background.

Last, but not least, I hot glued some small ball fringe onto the top and bottom of the shade. Tah-dah... a new lamp!

• Natural Accents Stencils
• Mediterranean Style Floorcloth
• Stenciling at Home