Turn old shirts into lampshade covers

First off, I want to welcome you all to a new series "Repurpose, Recycle, Reuse"! This series will happen every first Wednesday of the month and I am joined by 5 other lovely gals :)

It is always fun redecorating and painting furniture, but it's more fun when you get your creative juices flowing and actually imagine something completely different for an item other than it's intended use. I gotta say, one of my more favorite repurposing jobs so far is turning an old dresser into a cute shabby chic desk. Of course, that took a lot of work and patience :) This project today, is super easy that anyone can do as long as you own a shirt (which I sure hope you do...) and some scissors...and I guess you need a lamp :) ...that has a shade...lol so the requirements are getting bigger but I promise, that should be it!

Awhile back, I did a whole thing on repurposing old sweaters, and absolutely loved the look of putting an old sweater on a lampshade. It turned out beautiful and totally bumped up the cozy factor in my bedroom. But now that Spring is around the corner (hopefully), it's time to play around with another idea and lose the sweater.

I have a ton of shirts and tank tops that I don't ever wear. Some that have been years of never wearing. Some that I bought and they just don't fit or don't look right. Some that probably should have gone to the thrift store long ago. Yes. I am one of those people that can't get rid of clothes (and boxes, but that's another thing all on it's own). You should see my closet. It is chock full of stuff I don't wear. I do actually go through it, and try them on and say..."hey, I'll total wear this. Not going to get rid of it". But then a year or two later, it still sits there...never touched again :) It's an on going cycle.

Until now....

Make interchangeable lampshade covers out of old shirts and tanks! All you need is a old shirt or tank top...or sweater if you choose :)

Shimmy it down a lampshade so that the hemmed edge is either in line with the bottom:

Or, if you want, you can put the edge underneath the bottom rim, mine turned in quite nicely. This works best with more elastic type shirts.

Next, take some scissors, and cut around your shirt about an inch or so above the top rim.

Now, if you want, you can hem the shirt so you get a more finished look, or just have the shirt have an unfinished edge. Nobody is really going to see unless you have your lamp in an obvious spot and are afraid of people looking in it and then at you weirdly (yes, I know people who would actually care) :) If that's the case, then hem away. But really, you can't tell either way.

Now, most of my shirts flopped over the top rim perfectly where I didn't need to secure it to the shade. This makes it a lot easier so you can change out the shirt with another when the mood strikes. But if you notice that it doesn't quite look right on the outside, then it's a good idea to use a dab of hot glue every once in awhile to hold the shirt in place. This will also give you a more finished look.

This is about the easiest project you can do and get great impact.

It works with square lamps too :) Before, it's a cute little white lamp shade...

After:

Or a more nautical theme...

Now you can get a custom lampshade without paying a ton of money and without cutting and spray gluing fabric and hoping it ends up looking good :) Plus, you can take this off whenever! (I feel like I'm in an infomercial now lol)

As for the size of shirts, I used x-small, small and medium sizes that worked well. This also will depend on the size of your lamp shade. The wider the lamp shade the bigger the shirt. I would probably say a medium may be the largest you would want to go, but who knows, a large may work too! Of course, all shirts run differently so just make sure you put it on your shade before you start cutting so you know if it will work or not :)

 Want to see more Repurposed projects?? Be sure to visit the links below for more inspiration! Also, we've created a Pinterest Board that is dedicated to Repurposing, so check that out for more inspiration!

Lovely Etc. 

 "Dining Room Chairs Transformed with a Shower Curtain"  

 

Life as a Thrifter 

"Crazy Easy Reuseable Tracing Mats" 

Bigger Than The Three Of Us 

" Make a lamp out of a candlestick"

It All Started With Paint 

"Paper Flowers"

All Things G & D 

"Easy DIY Valentine Poppers {Made from Toilet Paper Rolls}"