Making stunning lampshades that are carefully crafted is only one part of being a lampshade maker and retailer and packaging your beautiful lampshades, so that your customer receives them in pristine condition is equally important. In today’s post, we'll share ideas for wrapping and protecting your shades including tips from our Lampshade Makers Facebook Group, clever eco packing inspiration and Dannells products to help you reach the packing pinnacle! 1. Under Wraps Protecti

This month's Meet the Maker, Detola of Detola & Geek came to lampshade making later in life, using her passion for African textiles as her vehicle for a new self-taught career. Building her business from making lampshades that pack a colourful punch to celebrate her Nigerian heritage, she cleverly uses a variety of lampshade shapes and sizes to show off the bold and beautiful patterns to their max. We catch up with Detola and find out more about how Detola & Geek started, how

Filming our You Tube lampshade videos is easily one of our favourite days of the year and our recent filming in September was no different - especially as we decided to freshen up the look, feel, venue and even camera angles of our You Tube videos to support our US Lampshade Making Kit range. In this post we take you behind the scenes and show you what happens behind the camera, as well as in front of it and introduce you to the 2021 filming crew! 9.00 am After a few hours of

A master of felt making, Emma of Silversoles uses her talents to make unquestionably beautiful and tactile lampshades, that bring both modern and traditional textures into her customers homes. With a background in textiles, Emma immediately fell in love with the hands on nature of her craft and it's sustainability, leading her to develop and play with a wide range of felting techniques and patterns. We chat to Emma in this month's Meet the Maker interview to find out more ab

As our Needcraft Lampshade Making Kits hit American shores, to say we’re excited is an understatement! Already hugely popular in the UK and Europe, US customers will now be able to purchase our US Lampshade Making Kits directly from Amazon.com and we can’t wait to see what fabulous lampshades our state side customers will create! For newbie American lampshade makers, we've ensured that everything you need to make up your first lampshade is in the box, leaving you to simply ch

Contrary to popular belief, tiered lampshades are not just the staple of luxury hotel lobbies and high-end restaurants. They can look fabulous in your home too and in this post we’re going share everything you need to know to make two, three and even four tiered lampshades! By using the same basic lampshade making skills as you would in one of our Needcraft Lampshade Making Kits, you can easily create a statement lampshade in your favourite fabric with one of our Tiered Lamps

With Autumn in full swing, high street homeware departments are full of new ‘must have’ accessories to help you create the ultimate cosy home for the colder season ahead. So if you’re looking for a lighting refresh, but are on a budget or simply prefer to have a go at making things yourself, look no further than our inspirational High Street Lampshade Hacks below using our lampshade making kits and materials. We’ll guarantee that you’ll not only make savings, but have the sat

Adding extra shine to your lampshades has just got that bit easier with our TWO new and exciting metallic trims! Choose between our elegant Metallic Contoured Profile Trim, or purpose made Hockey Stick Decorative Trim, either of which can be used with any of our Lampshade Making Kits to create some extra lampshade bling! In this blog post we’ll walk you through the gorgeous and glitzy colour ranges, as well as share our step by step instructions on how to apply and use each o

It’s NEW product time and today we’d like to introduce you to our Pleated Lampshade Sleeves which are smart lampshade solution, in more ways than one! Made using neat accordion pleating, our Pleated Lampshade Sleeves are quick and easy to put together and will add instant sophistication to any room! Offering an eye-catching interior alternative to a shop-bought lampshade, our Pleated Lampshade Sleeves work in tandem with our stylish French Drum frames, which taper outwards fr

Spotting a gap in the market, Vanessa of Copper Dust used her eye for interiors and gut instinct to start out in the world lampshade making. Inspired by the bold colours and stand out prints of her mixed heritage, she began creating gorgeous statement shades. From then to now, Vanessa has gone on to successfully develop her business by retailing a range of beautifully curated lifestyle products and offering first class interior design services. In this month's Meet the Maker,

The ‘back to school’ feeling is in the air and as children head off to school to learn something new, September naturally becomes a time for us to think about our own learning and what exciting creative endeavours we might try this Autumn. For many of our customers lampshade making is their business or side hustle involving printing designs onto fabrics and wallpapers, which are then lovingly turned into a beautiful range of handmade products, including lampshades. Often adm

The skill of making bespoke curtains and blinds is not to be underestimated, as many curtain and blind makers will know. From initial measure up to the handover of the finished product, hours of work, skill and knowledge are put to use. But what if you, as a curtain maker, could add another soft furnishings skill to your repertoire to increase the services you offer? When changing the look and feel of a space, buying a new lampshade naturally goes hand in hand with changing o

'Diffuser' might be a new word for your lampshade lexicon, but they’re a handy addition to your lampshade making materials, enabling you to change the look of your shade and the light it emits. Far from dull, our diffusers come in a range of shapes, sizes and patterns and if you're keen to add another aesthetic trick to your arsenal, we'll take you through what you need to know about diffusers, as well as a handy tutorial on how to make your own from your chosen fabric. What’

Combining her passion for clean and simple design and talent for detailed printing, Joanna of Lume Lighting creates lampshades that are nothing short of beautiful. Ranging from intricately patterned modern drums to ombre traditional shades, along with her fabulous new wooden pendant lights, Joanna has built up a successful lighting business. We go behind the scenes to find out about her creative influences, what her days look like and why she loves lampshade making! Hi there!

As a follow up to our recent post on our fabulous and creative laminated parchment papers, we’d like to introduce you to their perfect partner – Self Adhesive Textile Tapes. Primrose yellow, bottle green, blush pink and mid grey are just a few of the 35 colours (yep – you read right!) that our Self Adhesive Textile Tapes are available in, meaning whatever colour you’re looking for we’re bound to have it! Not only used to create a strong bond at the top and bottom of a parchme

Parchment lampshades are back! Offering a delicate, soft glow and holding plenty of possibilities for creativity, their natural feel fits well with many interior trends. Just a small step up in terms of skill from making one of our lampshade making kits in this post we'll introduce you to five types of parchment and tips on how to finish your parchment shades. The Story of Parchment Over the years lampshades have been made from many materials and parchments, although used pre

Proving that lampshades can be the most creative part of your room, Cath of Crushshade has blown us away with her incredible sculptured lighting that not only oozes beautiful form, but incorporate clever use of colour and pattern too. Drawing on her studies in Textiles and surface pattern design, Cath sees each of her shades as a piece of textile art, which we wholeheartedly agree with! We caught up with her for this month's Meet the Maker interview to find out more about ho

As well as being specialists in all things lampshades, did you know at Dannells we are print specialists too? By combining our knowledge and expertise of the two, we're able to print unique artwork and illustrations directly onto fabrics selected for their suitability for lampshade making. And what better way to celebrate the success of our printing service, by showing off the fantastic lampshades of Tide and Isle, a new venture by long-time lampshade maker Lucy Lo-Vel, using

Our Make and Paint Lampshade Making Kits are for exactly what it says on the box, making and painting, but in our quest to try new, inspirational and creative ideas for our lampshade making kits we’ve taken another much loved products, the humble Sharpie Pen Set, and put the two together. The results? This Sharpie Scribble Shade DIY tutorial. Born from a simple crafting technique that makes ‘squiggle gift wrap’ using brown paper and a bunch of felt tip pens (try it, it’s real

Starting her career in fashion, Wendy Carlton of Dotty and Flo, has enjoyed applying her talent for painting to many commercial mediums over the years. More recently, after turning her bright and exquisite artworks into fabrics, Wendy made lampshades and cushions to give her customers the chance to own affordable pieces of her art and bring her passion for nature and colour into their homes. Building her successful homewares business up from scratch, we're thrilled to find ou