Has anything ever instantly intrigued you–so much so that you found yourself wanting to recreate it and make it your own? Something special; something one-of-a-kind? A few years ago I was scrolling Pinterest (it’s still one of my favorite pastimes) and came across a lampshade Christmas tree.

This tree was festively decorated and created from the skeletons of several lampshades. It was a beautifully artistic take on a traditional Christmas tree–rustic and industrial, yet glamorously embellished.

Every Christmas season that tree comes to mind and every year I tell myself I’m going to make my own lampshade Christmas tree. Finally, after nearly 2 years of collecting lampshades, I decided this was the year I was going to create my own lampshade Christmas tree.

This tree was not difficult to make, but it does take a little preparation. Here’s what I did and how I did it:

(FIY, last year I decorated a pretty little shabby chic Christmas tree. Find that tree HERE.)

 

Acquiring The Lampshades

The first thing I did was start collecting lampshades. This, in itself, took 2 years because lampshades are expensive and I saw no reason to destroy brand new shades. Instead, each time I spotted a viable lampshade at a thrift store, I would snag it for the collection I had going for my future lampshade Christmas tree.

However, even at thrift stores, lamp shades aren’t cheap. I paid between $2-$6 per shade. Also, many shades did not have a “skeleton” which are the arms that go down the sides of the lampshade. Instead, a lot of them had cardboard or another heavy duty material all the way around the shade which made the shape of the lampshade–these were the ones I wouldn’t be able to use for my project.

Stripping The Shades

Once I finally had what I believed were enough lampshades, I had to cut the fabric off of each one because the only part I needed for this project was the metal skeleton of the shades. Stripping the shades seems easy enough, but it’s actually a lot of work as the fabric is usually glued to the metal and it’s not always easily removed. I hated this part the most.

Once the shades were stripped, they sat in my garage for an unreasonably long time. And then when we moved, they were packed up and again, sat boxed in my new garage until last weekend when I finally dug them out and decided to get started on this Christmas DIY.

Stacking Them Up

Once the shades were inside, the first thing I had to do to get this project started was to figure out how I wanted to stack the lampshades.

I started with a narrow, yet sturdy shade for my very bottom piece, and since I had a variety of shapes and sizes, I began stacking them, adding one or two before taking others away, until I found the stack of shades that most resembled the lampshade Christmas tree I wanted to create.

 I found this vintage-style garland at a thrift shop. Isn’t it cute? There are similar garlands on Etsy ↑

Attaching Each Shade

In order to keep the lampshades together and keep the tree from falling over, I had to figure out how I was going to attach each shade to the one below it.

I decided to use strips of fabric from fabric balls I had lying around. Starting with the bottom two shades, I tied the shades together any place the shades were touching each other. And I did this all the way up to the very top lampshade.

Covering The Skeleton

Once the lampshades were all tied together, I decided to use the strips of fabric to cover several of the metal pieces of lampshade skeletons. I didn’t want to cover all of the metal, because I like the industrial look of some metal showing, but I did want to make the tree it a little more Christmas-y so I used mostly red fabric strips to cover several parts of the metal.

When covering the metal, I wrapped the fabric around both lampshades in certain places which made my tree even sturdier. After finishing covering the metal, I tied the fabric together–it probably would have been easier to use a hot glue gun to glue the fabric to the metal but my glue gun is still packed away.

Decorating The Lampshade Christmas Tree

Next was time to decorate the tree. Although the red fabric gave the tree a festive look, I really wanted to use shiny, colorful glass ornaments to contrast the industrial metal feel of the skeleton tree.

I dug into my Christmas trunk and found my favorite new & vintage shiny glass ornaments. These ornaments brought the tree to life. I decided a large red bow was the perfect topper for my lampshade Christmas tree and once it was attached, my tree felt complete.

 

 

Tips For Your Own Lampshade Christmas Tree:

• Make sure your lampshades have a skeleton before you buy them.

• Get a variety of shapes and sizes–I ended up not using several of the shades I bought because I just didn’t like how they looked.

• Don’t get frustrated if your tree won’t stand by itself before you tie it together.

• Ribbon would be a pretty alternative to fabric strips.

• Try unique colors. Last year a did a pretty shabby chic Christmas tree using lots of pinks, gold, and silvers, but for this tree I really wanted bright & colorful.

• Using a hot glue gun to glue trim, ribbon, or other pretty things to the tree would have been a great idea–my glue gun is packed away still so I tied the fabric strips on instead.

• Expect to spend a whole day on your lampshade Christmas tree–it was more work than I expected but well worth the effort, in my opinion–I love how it turned out.

Have more questions? Leave a comment! And please let me know if you decide to make your own lampshade Christmas tree.