For awhile now, I have been lusting after this beautiful painted lamp. I woke up on my birthday with a vision of how I could DIY something that would create a similar effect. At first I thought I could decoupage painted paper around the outside of a lamp base, but a little hunting online produced this clear and hollow lamp. We had a gift card to Crate & Barrel left over from the wedding so I picked it up and brought it home. And then a quick trip to my favorite art store
and I had this marbled paper.
That is sort of where the easy part ended. I found myself wishing I could time travel back to 10th grade geometry to relearn out how to measure and cut the paper to fit into a cone with a circular top. Of course, I screwed it up the first time and ended up ruining the best section of the marbled paper. But two kraft paper templates later, I was back in action with an almost perfect cut section of marbled paper. It was a birthday miracle.
I tucked it inside the glass base and secured it with a few pieces of scotch tape and ta-da, a lamp! That looks pretty cool! For sure not as cool as the real deal, but cheaper & changeable. It is currently sitting on a side table in our living room that really needed a lamp. I love it.
If you are considering the same project (and even want to use the Crate & Barrel lamp as a base), I have created a little cutting guide for your paper. It's not perfect (my final version is secured in the lamp), but it will give you an idea of the shape & approximate measurements to help get you started. [Download paper cutting guide]
This is project 1 of 26.
I am attempting to tackle 26 personal craft projects before I turn 27 on 02.22.12. You can follow my progress here on the blog, on pinterest or on flickr.
enJOY it 
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