Pendant Light Re-Make

On my list of "to--do" during my no spend month was to finally re-do the shades on our pendant lights that are above the breakfast bar.

I have had the material for ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, probably six months.

She shrinks in shame.

So, to work I went.

 Above are the pendant lights in all their neutral glory.
Below, is the material that I have pushed aside for months, that is just sad to say.

First things first....strip that bland material off the shade.

I was unsure if I wanted to trim out the finished shade as the edges originally are or if I wanted a straight edge, so I made the trim by cutting the correct width, ironing in half and then pressing the outside edges to the center line left from ironing.

Yes, yes I know that there is a fancy gadget you can use to do this, but remember, not spending money means doing it creatively yourself!

 While I was ironing, I finished the edges of the material that would wrap the shade.

Next, I thinned out fabric glue to make it "paintable".

I painted the entire surface of the shade and carefully wrapped it with my new six month old material. I used good old clothes pins and scotch tape to keep things in place while the glue dried overnight.

 Next day, I again painted the thinned glue on the upper and lower edges and rolled the little bit of overhang material to the inside and taped it really well with blue painters tape. (I did not want to leave a sticky residue)

The next, next day, I removed the tape and hung the shade back on one of the lights.

It was then that I decided I like the non-trimmed edge! Yippy!

I love the way the pattern is simple, understated and picks up the gray in the walls and has a bit of green/blue pop that ties the dinning room to the kitchen.

I am in love with the way it looks and I can tell you that there was not a step that took longer than 15 minutes tops.
The only thing that was time consuming was waiting for the glue to dry, and I slept thru that!

This project cost a quarter of yard of material (about $1.50) and my time.
I would never have bought new shades in the colors that I truly wanted for seventy five cents each.

Score one for the DIY lady!!!