Vintage designs are not easy to find when everything surrounding us is contemporary. Unless the vintage style becomes trendy again, we need to be ingenious and to orient ourselves toward DIY projects. A good example can be a DIY vintage lamp. You could use an actual lamp as a model for the project or you can just improvise using things you already have.

Let’s start with an easy to make custom lampshade similar to the one on designsponge. For such a project, you’ll need some fabric, an existing lampshade, scissors, craft paper, pins, a sewing machine, spray adhesive, fabric glue and an iron. Create a template by rolling the lampshade on paper and tracing its shape with a pencil. Cut out the paper and then lay out the fabric. Fold the edges over the paper and pin them. Remove the paper and iron the fabric, then sew the edges. Glue the fabric to the lampshade.

In case you have the lampshade but you’re missing the base, check out sadieseasongoodsfor a tutorial on how to build one. You can use a tripod for that. You’ll have to make some adjustments for the hole at the top, where the lamp kit needs to be inserted. Once that part is done, wire the socket in place and add the lampshade.

If a floor lamp is not exactly what you need right now, check out the tutorial for making a table lamp base featured on mysocalledcraftylife. To make it, you’ll need a vintage tin, a lamp kit, extra couplers, a drill, a screwdriver, a small piece of PVC tubing and some glue. Make a hole at the center of the lid. Then add the couplers to the threaded rod and add the fixture to the lid. Make a hole in the back of the tin for the wire cord. Slide a small piece of PVC tubing onto the cord and push it into the hole. Slide the cording inside the tin and through the socket. Complete assembling the lamp kit and add the lampshade.

Let’s now return to lampshades and all the interesting designs you can use for them. On bywilmayou can find a really interesting idea: turning a fruit bowl into a lampshade. The supplies needed for the project include the metal fruit bowl, a lamp base, an old lampshade, tape, spray paint and ty-raps. Remove the fabric on the old lampshade and attach the small metal portion to your fruit bowl. Attach them with ty-raps. Spray paint the bowl, using tape on the cord and the parts you don’t want painted.

The project featured on mysocalledcraftylifeshows you how to upcycle vintage slides. In addition to the photo slides, you’ll also need a lampshade, large jump rings, jewelry pliers, a ruler, a pencil and a hole punch. Strip the lampshade down to the metal. Measure it and determine how many slides you’ll need. Mark and cut the slides and make holes in each side so you can attach them with rings. After you have all the sides ready, attach them to the lampshade.

A somewhat similar design can be found on fourcornersdesign. Once again, you’ll need a lampshade which you can strip down to the metal frame. Instead of photo slides, this time you’ll be using letter stencils. You can also improvise with other things which you think might look good on the lamp. You can attach them to the lampshade with thin thread.

A wire lampshade is the main element needed for the project on pensebrox. You’ll be covering it with scrap pieces of fabric. First you wrap fabric strips around the frame of the lampshade. Use hot glue to secure the edges. You can then start to add more strips of fabric to the shade, covering the frame completely. You’ll be creating a striped design.

For the colorful project on mysocalledcraftylife, you’ll need an old lampshade, scissors, hot glue, trim, an iron, basting spray and a ruler. Find a piece of fabric that you like and cut it to fit around the lampshade. Iron the fabric and then glue it onto the lampshade. At the end, glue the trim around the bottom edge.