Who doesn’t have a lamp or light fixture around the house that could use a little sprucing up? Grab a magazine or catalog from the recycling bin and start snipping. You can make a woven shade in no time using thin strips of magazine pages. Trusty wire mesh, sometimes called “rabbit fence,” makes it a no-brainer. Choose a palette of like colors; we used pages printed in yellow, oranges, and creams and another with pale greens and beige. Don’t restrict yourself to solid color; a contrasting hue here and there or a dash of random photo adds to the sparkle. We used a loop of wire to hang this sconce over a simple wall fixture sporting a compact fluorescent bulb. A cylinder of woven wire mesh could add the same jazz to a table lamp. Just use your imagination.
1. Cut magazine pages into strips about 3/8-inch wide to weave gracefully into the 1/2-inch wire mesh.
2. Sort snippings into general color themes such as yellow with orange or blue with green. Include many light-colored pieces to keep your shade from obscuring too much light.
3. Measure the wire mesh to fit your fixture, then cut with wire snips.
4. Weave the paper through the mesh. Alternate ups and downs as you begin each row. The mesh keeps the strips firmly in place. Trim the ends even.