Butterfly Lampshade

Butterfly Lampshade. Create a DIY butterfly lampshade using the Cricut Explore. Use glitter iron-on vinyl, cardstock and vellum to create this look.

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Cricut. This post contains affiliate links. Please read my full disclosure policy here.

I was challenged by Cricut to DIY a lampshade using my Cricut Explore. You all know I love butterflies, so my wheels were instantly turning to create a 3-D butterfly effect on my lampshade. I wanted the effect to be subtle and elegant. I knew I could create this look by using white on white on my butterfly lampshade.

Use your Cricut Explore to make a Butterfly Lampshade

Supplies needed:

To start with I created a design in Cricut Design Space™. I found a beautiful butterfly design that had a diagonal row of cascading butterflies in different sizes. I measured the height of my lampshade and altered the height to match. My lamp shade is 7.5″ tall, so I made the design 7.45″ tall. 

Cricut Design Space - Butterfly Lampshade

Cricut Design Space File: Butterfly Lampshade

I cut out two sets of the butterflies on white glitter iron-on vinyl with my Cricut. Be sure to select mirror image for your design or it will cut backwards. Place the shiny side of your vinyl down. Set the custom dial to iron-on and cut out your design.

Use Cricut Explore to create a butterfly lampshade

Weed out all the excess iron-on material from the clear backing and iron-on to the lampshade. 

Weed negative iron-on vinyl from clear backing

Note: When cutting vinyl I usually place a rectangle around my image and attach the rectangle to my image. This way I can easily weed my vinyl and cut it out to iron it on to my lampshade.

Use iron-on to add white glitter vinyl to lampshade

I added the two pieces of iron-on vinyl on opposite sides of the lampshade. I love how the butterflies wrap around the lampshade.

White glitter iron-on from Cricut

Then, I found an intricate butterfly shape I really liked. I matched up the size of the single butterfly with the larger butterflies from the iron-on design and cut out five butterflies from both plain white cardstock as well as vellum for each side of the lampshade (so, twenty butterflies in total).

Cut out butterfly shapes using the Cricut Explore

Once you have both sets of butterflies cut out, bend the wings up a little to create a 3-D effect. 

Fold butterfly shape in half

Use hot glue to adhere the vellum butterfly on top of the cardstock butterfly. 

Use hot glue to attach two butterfly shapes together

I then glued the two glued layers on the larger butterflies on the iron-on design. I used my Cricut weeding tool to hold the butterfly on the lampshade while it dried so I didn’t burn my fingers.

Use weeding tool to add butterflies to lampshade with hot glue

I think the lampshade turned out beautiful. It will work well in our living room, in my craft room, in my bedroom or even my daughter’s room. The silhouette of the iron-on butterflies look really pretty when the lamp is turned on.

Butterfly Lampshade with Cricut Explore - Laura's Crafty Life
Butterfly Lampshade made with the Cricut Explore
Butterfly Lampshade with iron-on vinyl and paper butterflies
Cricut Explore Butterfly Lampshade - Laura's Crafty Life

CRICUT ACCESS SUBSCRIPTION

Purchase a Cricut Access Subscription to save! You’ll get unlimited access to the growing library of over 1,000,000+ cut and print images and over 1200 fonts. You’ll also receive a 10% discount on licensed content like Disney®, Marvel®, Star Wars™, Harry Potter™, and more. Plus, save 10% on cricut.com and subscriber-only exclusives. Get free shipping on orders over $50 and 20% off materials with a Premium membership. Learn more.

You may also like these other Cricut projects:

Related Posts

3 Comments

  1. Shelly Clement says:

    I really, really like this … I think I might try this on my “oriental lampshades! Thank you for giving us how to …………

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *