How to Make Halloween Chandelier Shades
Add a fun Halloween touch to your chandelier with these easy-to-make decorated mini-shades for your chandelier or wall sconces.
You Will Need
White or off-white chandelier shades sized for your chandelier
2 yards black eyelash or fringe trim
4 yards black ric-rac
Black fabric paint pen or permanent marker
Hot glue gun and glue sticks
Scissors
Scratch paper and pencil
Once you've gathered your supplies, you're ready to begin. Simply follow these simple steps:
Cut out a strip of scratch paper about the size of your shade, and long enough to wrap most of the way around. This will be your template pattern. Don't worry about making an exact fit, your goal is just to get a general idea of the space on the shade for drawing your pattern.
Using one or more paper strips, experiment with ideas for your design. I tried ideas of a row of pumpkins, a haunted house and a graveyard scene before settling on spiderwebs.
Don't be afraid to try several options. I tried several spiderweb styles before settling on the final design of clustered smaller spiderwebs with spaces in between.
Once you've worked out your design, you will want to ink the design onto the shades, using either a permanent marker or a fabric paint pen. I chose to work directly in pen, but you could also use a pencil to sketch the design on the shade first.
Start my marking a large "y" shape on one side of the shade.
Next, add in some additional spines for your first spiderweb. Make sure the spines are at an angle, so they will dead-end at the edge of the shade somewhere around the back.
Begin adding the arcs of the webs. Start at the intersection of the first "y" (fig. 1) then radiate outward, adding spines as needed (figs. 2-3). When a spine is near an edge, add arcs of web to connect to the edge (fig. 4). Also include webs that appear to go off the edge (figs. 5-6).
Continue adding spines and arcs, working around the shade one way, and then the other, until the entire shade is filled.
Feel free to add little surprises here and there, tiny spiders peeking out from the webs, or hanging in the open spaces. Most of all, have fun!
Now that your shades have been inked with your spooky pattern, you need to finish the edges with ric-rac and embellish the edge with fringe.
Start by running a bead of hot glue along the upper edge of the shade, then pressing in the ric-rac, working two to three inches at a time. Start at a seam on the shade to help hide the raw edges of the ric-rac.
Finish the top edge, trimming the ric-rac to butt up to the beginning edge, then use the same technique to complete the bottom edge.
Use hot glue to attach the bottom fringe as well, trimming it to length and butting the ends. Make sure you glue the trim to the bottom edge of the shade, pointing sideways, rather than inside the shade, pointing down. This makes the fringe fluff out properly. You can also glue the trim flat on the outside of the shade, and forgo the ric-rac on the bottom edge.
Once the fringe is securely glued on, you can pull the protective thread out, freeing the fringe edge to be fluffed.
Vigorously rub the fringe with your fingertips to break up the clumps and fluff it up, and your shade is ready to go. Repeat Steps 1-4 for all the shades you need, and then you're ready to go on to the next step.
After making the number of Halloween shades you need for your chandelier, hang them up and see how they look. You can check for any needed touch-ups or blank spaces.
If you don't already have one, you might also consider installing a dimmer switch on your chandelier. The low, orange glow will add that spooky atmosphere Halloween events need.
I hope you've enjoyed making these chandelier shades as much a I did!
