I’m constantly on the lookout for affordable home decor items that will fit in my dorm room, so I was elated to find this small lamp at Target for only $10. Even better, it came with a plain white lampshade that was just begging to be DIY-ed. This project was done using a pencil, some cheap paintbrushes, and a handful of 50 cent bottles of craft paint. It’s super easy, super fun, and can easily be changed if you’re not a fan of Frozen 2.
Step 1: Find Inspiration
The first thing I did to create this DIY lamp was look at all the photos on Pinterest, both of actual authentic Scandinavian patterns and the designs used in Frozen 2. I ended up with the symbol of the four elements from the “Show Yourself” scene, which I absolutely adore!
Step 2: Start with the center
My lampshade had a seam down the middle on one side, which made it easy to draw out a *reasonably* symmetrical design. I started with the cross shape in the center, which is basically a diamond with two triangles on either side:
Step 3: Add the decorative elements
The next part of the design was the long snowflake ends and the diamonds in the middle of the cross shape. Three to five lines pointing out from each end of the cross, and four larger diamond shapes. There are also four smaller diamonds further out from the longer lines.
Here’s a look at the finished design:
Step 4: Start adding paint!
Once the pencil drawing of whatever design you chose is finished, you can start adding paint! For best results, a smaller round brush is probably best (mine were from a 99 cent kids set from Walmart). If you aren’t sitting at a desk and/or don’t feel like using a rinse cup, you can dip your brush in the lid of the paint bottle. This also keeps you from wasting paint ;).
Step 5: Add dimension
To achieve a somewhat convincing 3-d effect, put a highlight color (I used white) on one side of all the “surfaces” of the design and a shadow color (I used a darker blue) for the other side. With a little bit of paint on the end of your brush, you can blend the two sides together, but leave a little on either side to maintain the illusion of depth and dimension.
Step 6: Paint the colorful bits
The last step in this tutorial is to fill in the diamonds that represent the four elements on the inside of the center cross shape. Going clockwise, it goes purple, pink, turquoise, and blue, but you could just as easily use any other color. Same concept here with depth and dimension: start with a lighter color towards the outside, a darker color on the inside, and blend them together in the middle. It will also be helpful to fill in the shapes with white first to make sure that the color will stand out :).
Step 7: Ta-Daaaahh!
Hope you enjoyed this tutorial, and the pretty blue lamp that will be easy to put anywhere in your dorm room (and easy to transport on move-out day).
Happy college!
Cute!!