We recently returned from a trip to Asia, where I find the slightly more chaotic atmosphere brings on a bit more creativity! Sometimes the order and familiarity of the West can be a bit stifling, but there’s nothing like scouring through markets and seeing the inventiveness of different cultures to get the creative juices flowing.
Enter the straw hat: Popular in our culture at the moment, but also abundant in different styles in most places around the world.
A brief sighting through a marketplace was the catalyst for the DIY straw hat into a lamp shade. And its so simple, it will literally take you 10 minutes tops!
DIY Straw Hat into a Lamp Shade
You will need:
-A Straw Hat
-A Hanging Light kit
-Stanley or craft knife
-Needle and thread
Firstly, use the Stanley knife to cut a slit in the top-middle area of the hat. It only needs to be cut just big enough to poke the smallest end of your light kit through. For me, this was the end that plugs in to power.
Thread the cord of your light kit through to the end. Use the needle and thread to sew up the excess cut in the hat around the light cord. Alternatively, you could use hot glue for this.
Pop in your light bulb, hang it up and you’re done! I love an easy peasy yet so effective DIY!
You could literally hang this anywhere, I even like the idea of it as a bedside lamp. What do you think, have you tried anything like this before? Let me know! I think an energy saving bulb might be a safer option, but if you keep an eye on it while you are using an Edison bulb it should be ok.
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7 Comments. Leave new
How do you keep hat from getting to hot and starting a fire?
Hey Sarah, you can use an LED bulb which doesn’t give off any heat. The hat isn’t touching the bulb and the one I’m using gets warm, but can still be touched so I don’t think it would get hot enough to catch alight. I generally don’t leave lights on if I’m not in the room just to be on the safe side 😊
I never considered making lamps out of different kinds of hats. We have a bunch of hats left over that we used as props for a play. Maybe we can grab a couple and run some lightbulbs through them.
Great idea Sam! Love repurposing leftover bits and pieces ?
This is really an awesome idea for converting a straw hat into a lamp shade. It is looking beautiful. Thanks for sharing this post.
Thank you for your feedback! 🙂
What a great idea! So simple!