BL Workshop

Make a “10,000-Year-Old” Lamp Shade

By David Brooks
From the September 2008 Boys' Life magazine

• Click here to download and print pictures of cave art (PDF)
• See the Sept. 2008 issue of Boys’ Life for more Go Green! projects
  

Cave paintings have been around for thousands of years. Light up your own bedroom “cave” with this torn-paper lamp shade.

WHAT YOU’LL NEED

• Old lamp shade (light colored, preferably white)
• Junk mail (uncoated paper with no printing)
• Brown paper grocery bag
• Glue
• Sponge or cloth
• Used coffee grounds
• Scissors
• Paintbrush
• Pencil
• Shallow baking pans

WHAT YOU’LL DO

Step 1: Tear junk mail into different shapes.

Step 2: Wrinkle the paper, flatten it out in the pan and rub wet coffee grounds into it. With a sponge or damp cloth, rub away any leftover grounds.

Step 3: While the paper is still damp, brush white glue on the back and press the torn paper onto the lamp shade. Make sure there are no bubbles or loose edges. Apply more paper, overlapping pieces as you go. Allow more than 1/2 inch of paper to protrude beyond the top and bottom. Continue until you cover the entire shade.

Step 4: Cut away the excess paper from the top and bottom of the shade, leaving a clean 1/2-inch overlap. Create tabs by making vertical cuts every 1/2 inch around the top and bottom of the shade.

Brush extra glue on the inside of the tabs and fold them over the shade. Work around the shade, pressing the tabs down until they stay in place.

Option: You can punch holes and thread heavy string around the top and bottom.

Step 5: Draw your cave drawings on a brown grocery bag. Carefully tear out the drawings. Wrinkle them up, smooth them out and dampen them with a sponge or cloth. Brush glue on the back and paste onto your lamp shade.

Step 6: Brush a coat of glue over the entire lamp shade and let it dry. Turn on your lamp, and your room instantly looks like a fire-lit cave.

Read 8 comments about “Make a “10,000-Year-Old” Lamp Shade”

1. 1 - I you me them says:
   August 25th, 2008 at 1:00 pm

   I WANT TO TRY THIS!!!

2. 2 - Almost Tenderfoot says:
   August 25th, 2008 at 2:55 pm

   This looks cool

3. 3 - BAX 101 says:
   August 26th, 2008 at 6:38 pm

   THIS IS AWSOME

4. 4 - SNAZ says:
   August 27th, 2008 at 3:43 pm

   BAX 101 I agree that is cool

5. 5 - Chickenfoot101 says:
   August 30th, 2008 at 11:18 am

   Awesome im making one

6. 6 - Rocy says:
   October 2nd, 2008 at 8:38 pm

   This is awesome

7. 7 - Jupiter says:
   October 18th, 2008 at 4:06 pm

   I mean it this is awesome

8. 8 - Iron Man says:
   October 20th, 2008 at 11:52 am

   cool! you could also go to goodwill and get an old lamp shade. 8D

   i’m gonna try this

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