Let Your Light Shine

Here’s a simple tutorial for making an inexpensive, non-working lamp for your fashion doll.

You will need:

– two 3” wooden craft candle sticks

– a votive holder

– some fabric (pre-cut quarters work great)

– stain or paint of your choice

– heavy-duty glue (my favorite go-to glue is Loctite Power Grab that holds fast and dries clear).

First, you will need to cut off the top 1/4-1/3 of one candlestick. If you are anything like me and don’t yet have confidence in your ability to get that close to a power saw without lopping off a fingertip, enlist the help of your hubby or significant other. You might want to use a power sander to smooth the surface after it’s been cut. Then, flip the cut candle stick upside down and glue it on top of an uncut candle stick. Once it’s dry, you may stain or paint it to your heart’s desire.

While you wait for the stain/paint to dry, cut your fabric so it will completely cover the votive holder with at least a ½” to spare. That extra half-inch is what you will glue to the inside of the votive holder. There’s the tricky part. Put a line of glue along the upper inside lip of the votive holder and press down a finger-width section of fabric. Make a nice pleat along the length of the votive holder and press down the next finger-width section. Repeat all the way around until you come back to the beginning; the last pleat will look slightly different than the others—that’s the side you turn toward the wall. 😉

You will also want to use a finger to tuck some glue between the folds of the fabric on the inside lip to keep everything tight and tacked down. This is why I like the Loctite glue; if you use something like Elmer’s glue, it will not hold the fabric in place before the glue can dry.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When everything is dry, flip your new lamp shade over its base, glue in place if you like, and voilà: you’ve made your very own OOAK (one-of-a-kind) lamp for your fashion doll. This same procedure can be applied to make an American Girl doll simply by using larger candle sticks for the base and a small, inexpensive garden pot for the lamp shade.