Beercoaster Lampshade

This instructables will show you a fun and sustainable way of re-using beer coasters and make a shade for a lamp out of it.

You will need the following materials:

1. Beer coasters

2. Compass or pencil

3. Ruler

4. Contact glue

5. Adobe Illustrator CS6 Software

6. Laser cutter

Step 1: Find Some Beer Coasters

Find yourself some beer coasters in a bar for instance.

For my design I used some 'Vedett' beer coasters, but any coaster with the same size will do the trick.

Step 2: Find the Center of a Coaster

One coaster will be your mould for all of the other coasters during the process. Find the center of the coaster with a compass if you have one. Put a hole in the middle of the coaster with the end of your pencil.

If you don't have a compass at your disposal than this is simply a method to find the center of a circle, using very simple techniques. You will need a ruler, a pencil and some way of measuring right angles (see picture).

Step 3: Creating the Top

In the attached file you can find my design that I made in Adobe Illustrator CS6 for the top of the shade.

Please note that in the design the red lines are for cutting and the blue ones for engraving performed by the laser cutter.

Step 4: Creating the Sides

In the attached file you can find my design that I made in Adobe Illustrator CS6 for the sides of the shade.

Please note that in the design the red lines are for cutting performed by the laser cutter.

Step 5: Creating the Corner Sides

In the attached file you can find my design that I made in Adobe Illustrator CS6 for the corner sides of the shade.

Please note that in the design the red lines are for cutting and the blue ones for engraving performed by the laser cutter.

Step 6: Glue All Parts Together

Take the three sides and glue them on the top of the shade.

After that you take the three corner sides and glue them in the corners between two sides.

The glue has to dry for about 10 to 15 minutes.

Step 7: Final Design

The shade for a lamp is finished.

You can now put the shade on top of a light bulb.

Enjoy!