DIY Drum Shade from Metal Flashing

Do you recall the DIY Greek Key fabric I made? 

{if you missed the post head over for the tutorial and for a free printable pattern!}

The fabric belongs to this! My new drum shade. 

Here's how my project started.

One day I stumbled across this post from Classic Casual Home. Remodelaholic was featuring Mary Ann's loft makeover, which is an obviously gorgeous creative getaway. But what caught my eye was the chain of the lighting fixture.

It looks good, right? Not at all like an old brass light fixture with an old brass chain.

Incidentally, there's an old brass light fixture with an old brass chain right here in my living/dining room. 

Oh yeah, and it's even broken. If it were mine I could've fixed it and then painted it with green, high gloss enamel until I replaced it entirely. But since it's not... I decided to purchase a cheap drum shade with plans to either recover or paint it. After shopping around I realized 18 inches not not a cheap or easy size to find.

On to plan B, or C, I looked up ways to DIY a lampshade.

The Keylors, from The Keylor Family, have a awesome tutorial about making a 23 inch drum shade from embroidery hoops! Awesome, right? I have seen a few of these tuts, but they do a great job of explaining how to make the shade. Their version cost them around 20 bucks and it looks like they spent way more!

 I went out to buy supplies and hit a few road blocks, then, that very day, I found this post from Kimbo at A Girl and a Glue Gun. 

{Stay with me, now-I'm getting there!}

Do you ever have those moments when you see something that someone has made and for a second you think, "No! That was my idea!" Well of course I didn't think that. Not like two people can't have the idea to hide an existing out dated light the same way, right?!

Kimbo used aluminum flashing to create the drum shape and wrapped her own fabric around that. Super smart!

I did the same. This was perfect for me because:

*it is super fast to make

*it is re-adjustable and reusable

*it can be sized {most precisely} to any circumference

*it is easier to get around the existing light fixture

Materials
*Aluminum Flashing {comes in different heights and 10 feet long, from Home Improvement Store}-$10
*Tin Snips {from Home Improvement Store}-$6
*Spray Adhesive {from craft store or Walmart}-$5

I purchased my supplies from Lowe's. I picked up two heights because I really wanted to use 10 in  high aluminum but was worried it wouldn't be high enough to cover the old light. Luckily it was, so that's what I used. I thought I had tin snips, but wasn't sure- so picked those up too, just in case! Of course I have spray adhesive, since I use it for everything, but I would run you about 5 dollars. A bonus, you have enough flashing to make several shades if you wanted to.

OK, the directions are super easy. Just measure the aluminum and use the tin snips to cut it to size.

I did two coats of spray adhesive, then applied the fabric on the metal. Make sure all the bubbles are out right from the beginning. Nothing like bubbles to make your new project look homemade instead of purchased.

Here's the view of the underneath. Looks exactly the same as before, white enamel. You have to get right up underneath it to see the bulb.

I only used a piece of electrical tape on the inside of the shade to hold it together.

 I overlapped the aluminum flashing  5-6 inches beyond what was needed to create the shade. That way I could remove the tape and reuse this shade making up to a 23 inch shade without changing a thing. 

You can see fabric on the inside of the shade because the fabric can be removed from the metal. I'm not sure how it will hold up over time, but I thought I'd save the extra, by folding over at the end. Just in case I wanted to remove the fabric and put it on some of the left over aluminum flashing. I could do a 28 inch drum shade in that case. Who knows what lighting our next home will have, but we're looking at older homes, so I imagine we'll need all the lighting we can get.

I love the aluminum flashing for a lampshade. It's stiff and holds a shape without looking a bit wobbly or flimsy. When you're holding 10 feet it's kind of heavy, but when you cut it to size it isn't at all. 

I have the same amount of light as I did before the shade. It looks really pretty shining above and below the light.

My total cost to make the fabric and the shade was $15-16. Though it may cost you more if you don't have tin snips or if you buy a more expensive fabric.

You can see the new drum shade pendent & in the background the mercury glass pendent I made last week. Love the contrast between modern and worn, vintage pieces.

So there you guys go. Two tutorials to make your own drum shade, a printable to grab. two homemade light fixtures for you guys to check out and {hopefully} some DIY inspiration!

Wanna print me?

Looking for places to link up your projects? Check out my Party page.

I'm also linked up here.