{DIY} How To Make A Bird's Nest Lamp Shade Out of Newspaper

by Jillian Leslie on

Happy Memorial Day!

Here’s a craft project Wanessa from WCC Designs created that is so pretty. She made this bird’s nest lamp shade using only… paper and glue. Amazing! Here’s how she did it..

I’m so excited about this project. This lamp shade came out soooo much better than I thought! I mean it’s pretty awesome! 🙂

My inspiration for this project was a bird’s nest. This it’s a simple project but you have to be patient! 🙂 If you’re a crafty person you probably are…{smile}

All you need to make this lamp shade is newspaper and glue, but if you want a better look, you can also use white or colored paper to cover the newspaper tubes or you can paint it when you’re done (just to let you know, spray paint doesn’t work well, but regular wall paint does).

I covered my tubes using regular white paper (8.5″x11″). I cut each sheet in 3 pieces, and with one piece I covered a tube.

Instructions:

  • Roll the tubes using a sheet of newspaper (fold the big sheet in half and roll), I used a skinny dowel to roll, it makes the rolling process easier and all of them will end up with the same thickness — I rolled over 200 tubes for this project.

  • Using a glue stick, glue the ends closed.
  • Using the paper color you desire, cover the tubes.
  • Cut the ends of each tube using gardening shears.
  • Start gluing the tubes together (think of a bird’s nest) stacking them on top of each other to make the shape (a cake turning table can be very handy while you’re making your lampshade).

  • When you’re done, sit the lamp shade over a small lamp and you are done!

Since my daughter broke one of my bedroom lamps, I bought a new one, and now I found an interesting way to use the broken one.

I hope you have enjoyed this DIY !

Wanessa, this really is an awesome idea, thanks for sharing!

To learn more about Wanessa and see more of her designs, please visit her blog, Facebook pageand Etsy shop

Comment

3 comments

  • no photo

    kirs wrote:

    Looks great! Which glue did you use to glue the pieces together at the end?

  • Teri S

    Teri S wrote:

    why do you say to cut the ends? are the tubes of newspaper longer than the white paer and you are just cutting it off even with the white? I wish there were more pics. I love it

  • Michelle T

    Michelle T wrote:

    Thank you for this great post. I found your craft after googling lamp shade DIY's. I had a lot of fun making our news paper lamp. I made a tall modern brown/silver one using your instructions. I rolled what seemed like a million news papers and glued them with a glue stick. Then I painted them white as a primer with acrylic paint. And once dry I painted them a deep chocolate brown. I crafted them together after trimming the ends with garden shears (Great idea !) using a glue gun. I constructed them around a wire lamp shade and voila. It turned out great. I'd love to show you pictures of it, being that it was all your amazing idea. But I'm not sure how to send you pix. Let me know if you'd like me to send them. Happy crafting!