How to Make a Twig or Grapevine Lampshade

Making a Twig Lampshade

• 1

  Collect dry twigs of a similar length and thickness. The twigs must be long enough to cover the frame vertically and about 1/2 inch in thickness to allow for tying to the frame. Remove any greenery.

• 2

  Remove any fabric or paper from your lampshade. It must be bare before it can be recovered.

• 3

  Choose a twig. Wrap a piece of wire around the thickest end and wire it to the base of the lampshade. Take a second piece of wire and use the same method to wire that first twig to the top of the frame. Once the first twig is in place it can be used as a guide for placing the rest.

• 4

  If your shade flares from top to bottom, wire the thickest part of the sticks to the base of the shade. If the shade is drum shaped, alternate wiring thick, then thin ends to the base of the frame for a vertical pattern.

• 5

  Cut one long piece of wire to secure all the sticks to the frame, or use single pieces of wire as needed. Make sure the ends of the wire are pointing toward the inside of the shade so that they don’t create a snag.

Making a Grapevine Lampshade

• 6

  Remove leaves from the vines or leave some foliage for esthetics and dimension. Soak the vine in a bucket of water for two days until it is pliable.

• 7

  Wrap a piece of craft wire around the thickest end of the vine and secure it to the bottom rim of the wire lampshade.

• 8

  Weave the vine in and out of the wire frame going around in one direction. Once the frame is mostly covered, start weaving the vine back through itself to create a lattice-type design. This makes the structure sturdier.

• 9

  Wire the end of the vine to the shade, and wire any other sections of vine which seem loose.

• 10

  Let it dry for two weeks.