Hi all creative friends,

I was making some square paper beads for a bracelet. Once the project was complete I was left with some extra paper strips. As I sat there admiring the bracelet and looking at the leftover strips I got this bright idea of weaving them. As the weave was forming the tiny holes created because of the triangular shape of paper strips got me excited to use it to play with light. That's how the Tea Light Shade came about. As I clicked pictures of the final outcome I felt I should share the idea so others can use it to glamorize their tea light evenings.

Hope you all will find it interesting and go ahead and create even prettier pieces. Please do share your creations.

Step 1: Cutting the Paper Strips

Materials needed

Paper of your choice
Craft knife or scissors
Metal scale
Gridded craft cutting board
Glue
Pencil
Tea Light and a Tea Light Holder (tall enough to prevent the fire from coming into contact with the woven paper shade.

1. Cut the paper into triangle strips. The colour and pattern of paper can be of your choice. You may use magazine pages, pages of old books, newspaper, leftover craft paper or any paper that has some stiffness. The dimensions of the strips depend on the tea light holder you wish to wrap it on.

Note: Please wrap onto high tea light holders to prevent fire. Do not place the final product in unsupervised places or in the reach of children and pets.

2. Take one strip and stick a few of the other strips close to each other (as shown in the 2nd image above) in the pattern you wish.

Step 2: Weaving

Once you have stuck the required number of strips (depending on the size of the holder you wish to wrap around) you can start weaving. Pass a strip horizontally over and under alternate vertical strips as shown in the images above. When you have the desired size, push and pull the strips to adjust the size of tiny holes in between the woven strips. Glue up the strips with the last strips on the remaining 3 sides (one side was glued up in the beginning).

Trim all the extra ends.

Step 3: Rolling the Woven Shade Around the Tea Light Holder

Roll the woven shade around tea light holder, without the tea light inside. Then use the trimmings to neatly join the edges. I left a V-shaped opening at the joint as it gave a nice effect when I placed a lighted tea light inside the holder. You can finish up the piece in your own creative ways.

The two images above show the difference the shade makes. The 2 images of the final set-up in the intro section show different angles of the play of light. It is romantic! It is mysterious! It enhances the whole decor!

Enjoy weaving magic into your lives.

Leena