Easy-Peasy Lamp Shade Ribbon Trim

It’s amazing how something as simple (and inexpensive) as ribbon trim can dress up a lamp shade. Today I’m going to share my little secret with you for how I decorated my bedroom lamp with “temporary” lamp shade ribbon trim. Why temporary? Because you all know how frequently this girl changes her mind, and I didn’t want to be “married” to this ribbon. If I want to change it out for something else, I can easily remove it and switch it out. But for now, it makes a big impact for just a few bucks.

Here’s my secret: First of all, put away that glue gun. You don’t need it. Get yourself some hem tape (I used some called Peel’n Stick Fabric Fuse), and use a tiny piece of it to stick one end of the ribbon to the bottom edge of your lamp.

Start at the back seam, wind the ribbon around and then use another small piece to attach the other end, overlapping the ends slightly. I like to use my existing lamp shade trim as a guide to keep my ribbon straight and also give it something for the edge to lay against. Now, do the same exact thing to the top.

You may run into some gapping. In this case, you can angle the ribbon downward a tiny smidge in the back (no one will see it anyway), or just use more hem tape to help it lay flat.

The entire process takes maybe five minutes. Easy enough, right? If you don’t want it to be quite as temporary, then you can use an entire strip of hem tape all the way around the shade. I have found that this gives me a smoother finish than a glue gun, especially if I’m using satin ribbon. Use your fingernail to smooth out any bumps or wrinkles.

You may notice that this is the same ribbon I used to trim out the lamp shade in my sons’ bedroom. I loved it so much that I used it in our bedroom too!

Have you added any ribbon trim to your lamp shades lately? Have any tips to share?

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