For today’s post I have been looking for a project that would be great for summer and also go along with our Christmas in July event. And I found something that is perfect for both occasions: Fairy lights!

Grab a simple fairy light string (preferably LED) and give it a fun (or romantic) seasonal touch by decorating it with lamp shades.

This is perfect for the use of a Cameo to help you cut out the lantern shades – decorating a long fairy light string is done in a snap if you don’t have to cut out all the little lamp shades by hand.

I was going to show you a whole range of variations made with a very simple and basic shape – but I did run into a couple of mishaps – first I broke the knife of my Cameo only to realize that my replacement knife was already in use (my husband and his projects… don’t ask, lol). And later when I wanted to put the shades I managed to get done on my LED light string it turned out our daughter had snatched it for one of her craft projects and all that was left for me was a broken non-LED one. Sigh.

So I can show you only a few pictures and tell you about all the other possibilities. Maybe you could take some pictures of your projects and link to them in the comments?

What you need: A fairy light string – LEDs if you can get them, some glue and depending on the kind of project you have in mind a variety of scrapbooking paper, lantern paper, adhesive foil, glitter or fabric.

As usual I do have a freebie for you – here are some cutting files for this project (click image to download): ***Sorry, but this download has expired, but you can find these files in my store***

For my first lampshade I used a lightweight scrapbooking paper and had the Cameo cut the lampshade1. After cutting apply glue to the little tab and glue it around a light.

Instead of the lightweight paper you could also cut it from adhesive foil, remove the backing (not from the tab) and sprinkle glitter on the sticky side. Remove the backing from the tab and close the lampshade with the glitter on the outside.

Or attach a sheet of adhesive foil to a pretty fabric (or lace!) and let the Cameo cut the lampshades from this.

Or print a photo on regular printer paper – a landscape, a flower picture or even a person (maybe for a birthday party?).  Depending on the picture you want to use try playing with the polar coordinates filter in PS).

 

All these variations could also be used with the second lampshade, as well – here’s a look at my flower patterned one:

After cutting it out fold the lampshade back and forth at the dotted cuts – until it resembles an accordion shape. Then apply glue to the tab and close it around a light.

For my third lampshade I used a sheet of plain cardstock – if I had been able to use a working lightstring you would see how pretty the light would be shining through the little star-shaped holes.

The fourth (and last) version I will show you today was made using the flower cutting files from my last post:

 

Whatever you do – please, never leave your fairy light string unattended when switched on, even if you use special lantern foil or paper!

I hope I was able to give you some ideas to get you started on making these fun decorations, even if the post was not as full of example pictures as I would have liked it to be. I ordered a new knife right away, so I will have it in time for my next post, lol!

Have a great time – and don’t forget to play along in the wonderful challenges in our Christmas in July forum and the great sale, as well, lol!