Silk Flower Lampshades

Materials:

old silk flowers
soapy water
scissors
lampshade
hot glue
wooden bamboo stick

Steps:

1. Clean dusty old silk flowers by swishing them around in soapy water.

2. Cut the petals off the stems until you have a bowl full.

3. You can use a lampshade that already has beads around the rim or embellish it yourself with beads, ribbon and fabric. Apply trim with hot glue.

4. To add flowers, put a drop of hot glue on the inside of the petal--it will curve inward slightly. Place the petal right at the base of the shade and press, using a wooden bamboo stick to protect your fingers from the hot glue.

5. Continue adding petals in a single row around the bottom. Overlap the next rows. When you get to the last row, overlap the petal over the top of the lamp.

You can use silk flowers for a variety of projects: as decoration for a gift package, at the base of a candleholder, attached to a magnet or on a picture frame.