DIY polka dot lampshade

DIY polka dot lampshade

I thought it would be really fun to make a polka dotted lampshade for my living room, to go with the new polka dotted rug. You can’t have too many polka dots, right?!

I wanted my polka dots to be nice and big, which was a bit of a challenge. If you want small dots, you could easily use one of those round foam brushes or the end of a small foam roller. For big dots, you’ll need to make a template with paper that’s thick enough to get paint on it but thin enough to wrap around the lampshade without wrinkling. I ended up using a piece of cardstock I had left over from our wedding, which worked perfectly, and I made a circle by tracing a bowl. I cut out the circle and used painter’s tape to attach the stencil to my lampshade, making sure it was as tight as possible. Then I just filled in the template with some metallic gold craft paint that is safe for fabric, holding the template tight with my thumb to make sure it didn’t gap and bleed. You could measure out your dots and figure out exactly where you want them… or you could make your life a lot easier and go for spontaneous dots — my favorite!

What a fun project! These dots make such a huge impact in my room and I LOVE the way they turned out.

(( Mocha sure loves to insert herself into photo shoots ))

Hmm, so what am I going to put polka dots on next….

{ lamp base and shade are both from Target }