By Monica Ewing, Sunset senior designer
While shopping at West Elm a few months ago, I saw this capiz table lamp, and thought, “I could make that.” But I didn’t want to make it exactly the same. Besides, where would I get capiz shells? I decided mine would be multicolored. This is how I did it...
Step 1 Finding the lamp base
Procuring a lamp base was easy. This one was a leftover prop from one of Sunset’s idea houses. It’s perfect because it has a straight candlestick base and a pull chain, but any lamp with a narrow base will work.
Step 2 Stripping the lampshade
Next I cut and ripped the fabric off of the top lampshade ring. The adhesive left behind proved to be difficult to remove. After trying several methods unsuccessfully, I rubbed a cotton ball soaked with lighter fluid on the ring, and the gooey gunk finally came off. Then I washed the ring in soap and water to remove the lighter fluid.
This was such a laborious process that I thought I’d find a supplier of what they call slip uno top rings to save us all some trouble. Trust me, you can’t buy them. Well, you can, but they’re ugly. Most are half unfinished and half gold-plated. I spent weeks searching online, driving around town, calling and emailing manufacturers for a chrome top ring—without success. So I suggest finding a lampshade with a pretty top ring and rip it apart—or spray paint an ugly one.
Tip #1 If you’re into the work, strip the lampshade’s bottom ring as well and make a mobile out of it.
Step 3 Making the circles
I bought circle paper punches in three sizes: 1”, 1.25”, and 1.5” at Beverly’s and sheets of rice paper from University Art. Rice paper comes in beautiful colors, and it’s pleasingly translucent; however, it’s thin and flimsy. After laminating each sheet at Kinko’s, I was ready to start punching.
Tip #2 I laminated three 24” x 36” sheets—one in each color—but I used less than half of each. Because Kinko’s charges $3 per square foot, I recommend laminating only a 16” x 24” piece of each color.
Tip #3 Hold the punch upside-down so you can see the piece you’re punching.
Step 4 Is “orchestrated randomness” an oxymoron?
After I punched several circles, I laid them out in strands of nine circles in a small-medium-large arrangement, alternating the colors in a purposefully random pattern. It was like trying to foil an opponent at Connect Four.
Next week: Stringing the circles.
