Buttons and Burlap...

The weekend flew by and we were quite busy here!  I know that is not shocking news...I wonder when was the last time I just was able to do nothing in a day and be lazy...ah, reminiscing...

We did have a little fun this weekend.

Mr. Wonderful was given some free...(I love that word!) yes, free tickets to a baseball game on Saturday.

The weather as of late has been off and on...a nice Spring day one day, the next snow or rain.

Of course, Saturday happened to be a day of rain showers here and there.  As irony would have it...we needed our umbrellas before going to the game and I could not find any of them...we had none...zero, zilch!

All the umbrellas (at least 5) we once owned...broken...you know, all the boys pretending they were swords, lasers or whatever their imaginations could come up with...everything but what they were designed for...rain.

So...there we were with no umbrellas...and of course this wasn't thought of until the very last minute.

 What kind of mom am I?!  A very unprepared mom at the moment! 

That did not stop us though...regardless...we were there to have some fun as a family...rain or shine...soaked or dry!

Fun...we did  have!

I forgot how much I enjoy watching baseball and it was great sharing it with my family.  We decided since it was close to the evening we would just eat dinner there.

 Isn't having hot dogs and peanuts the nostalgia at a baseball game.  Little did we know that just for a hot dog would be at least $5.  Lets see...$5 times 7 people...oh, lets not forget drinks at $4 each and other things...well, you can see it adds up very fast! In the end as we left the game that evening, Mr. Wonderful said "Wow, it costs us $60 for a free game!"  We all had to laugh.

If your still with me and wondering what this has to do with my title...Buttons and Burlap... absolutely nothing! I just thought I would share. :)

So...here is another project to mark off my list...2 lampshades, done!

I think they turned out quite pretty and have a vintage look to them.  I even gave a little boring tutorial.  An easy and great way to dress up any shade...

Loving the way these turned out!

I had bought two of these shades back in NM before we left.  

I knew I wanted to add something to them to tie into the lamp bases I had.

Using burlap as my fabric, I first had to find the length for my pleats.

  I did this by measuring the inside of the shade at the bottom. 

 I cut a strip that length and then made my pleats to fit inside it.

Put your iron on the highest setting, (burlap can be hard to shape). 

 Fold your strip of fabric in half and make a crease down the center.

*I used an old towel underneath this when I ironed.

Cut another strip of burlap measuring your width for the 

pleats (keep in mind this width will be folded in half)and 

about 2 times longer than your band.

Using lots of steam and a water bottle mist the burlap as you iron.

 Start making your pleats.  I didn't measure my pleats, I just estimated 

as I went. Fold and iron all together about every 4th pleat.

Once your pleats are done using a hot glue gun take the length of

 burlap you cut to fold over the top of your pleats to make a band. 

My band was about 2 inches wide and then folded in half,  you can make it whatever size you need for your shade.This will make it easier to glue onto the shade, keeping it more even and give it a finishing edge.  

It should look like this glued on both sides of the pleats.

Turn your shade upside down, it will be easier to work with and 

see where your band is being placed.  Glue to shade. I didn't worry

 about the pleats being exactly even in length, being that it's burlap.

Once the pleats are done,  now you can glue your buttons. 

I sorted through the button's  I wanted to use and made a pattern before I started

 gluing them on.  I spaced them and added small and large for interest.  I used buttons

 that had similar colors in the shade and base to give contrast and tie it all together.

Now, some of my favorite lamps! 

A great way to add a little something to your shades.

Before I go, there is a joke going on around here lately...

Whenever one of the kids or my husband is looking for me and they ask where I am, the reply will be..."Mom's in the garage stripping"...of course the "stripping" they are referring to, is my  furniture I am working on... 

Never a dull moment in my house!  :)

Will be back with more finished projects to share soon!!

Hugs,