One of the only science courses I took in college was geology. My degree (a Bachelor of Arts with a major in Philosophy) didn’t require many science courses, and I am pretty sure I took geology for only two reasons. First, it fit into my schedule (if I’m being honest, this was probably the main driving force behind the decision). Second, I think I was envisioning lessons that revolved around crystals and ‘pretty rocks.’ I’ve always loved pretty rocks. Ha! So I’m glad the internet has decided in the past few years that crystals are cool again because I LOVE this trend.
Beyond my limited geological knowledge, this post is actually about a super easy DIY project I recently made. For this project, I am working with Canon USA. I used my PIXMA TS8120 to print my designs on vinyl and I love how gorgeous and saturated the color is. No Photoshop trickery here—it’s an awesome home printer for both color and black and white. I use this printer for a lot of different things, from printing out a few vacation photos for my albums (printing Disneyland pics this weekend!), to scanning documents for work. But most of all, I love the ease of having a great home printer so I can make little projects like this on a whim if I want. I don’t want to wait for something to come in the mail, or go somewhere and pick up my prints. I’m going to show you how I made the vinyl decals for this lamp later in this post, but here’s one spoiler: I made AND printed this all from my phone. How easy is that!?
As you can see, I added vinyl decals to both the inside and outside of this glass lamp base. I’ll share a few photos of the lamp in my office at the end of this post, but you’ll see that I also display a few crystals inside the lamp. I see empty glass lamps like this pretty often, so you can probably find one easily (mine is from Home Goods, in case you are curious). But you could also easily add vinyl decals to any glass or ceramic lamp, it doesn’t have to be clear or empty inside like this one. I really love printing on vinyl for certain projects, not only because the end result looks sleek and professional, but also because you can easily remove it later without worrying about sticky residue like you might with other types of stickers. I don’t really plan to remove these anytime soon, but I might someday if I want to change up the style of this lamp and use in a different spot in my home.
Also, if you like printed vinyl projects as much as me, you should totally check out this DIY Dress Your Tech post and also this DIY Shower Curtain project I shared a while ago. The shower curtain I still have in our guest bathroom and it’s holding up really well!
Supplies:
-inkjet printer, mine is the PIXMA TS8120
-inkjet vinyl paper
-glass or ceramic lamp
-scissors
Step One: Think about what design you want to create on your lamp. You could print just about anything—photos, scanned versions of your own paintings, artwork you create in Illustrator or other design programs, etc. I think photos would actually be really cute, but I was wanting something with crystals and a bit more of an illustrated look. But the only problem is I am not a great illustrator (also my handwriting is TERRIBLE).
So, I used a few of the crystal ‘stickers’ from the Spirit pack in our app, A Design Kit. I just used a blank background and added the stickers, resizing if I wanted different sizes (which I did). This was SO easy and a great option for me since I’m not much of an illustrator. You could also use the app to create text designs, like a quote or motivational phrase (that sounds cheesy, but you know what I mean, right?).
Step Two: Print your design(s) to vinyl. I did this from my phone but you could also print from your computer, depending on what’s easiest.
Step Three: Cut out the vinyl decals and add to your lamp. The end! I told you this project is easy.
Here’s the final lamp sitting on my desk, right by my computer. I love how it turned out! Thanks for letting me share. xo. Emma
15 Comments
I’ve been wanting an inkjet printer for so long! I totally get the hype about them, they’re so convenient… now, if only I was willing to splurge!
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com
Gemstones! Just saw some amazing ones at the Smithsonian and love how this would be a fun way to decorate with them in mind!
I’m jealous! Never made it to the Smithsonian yet, I keep telling Trey we need to go to DC.
The Smithsonian collection is out of this world. Literally, the meteorite collection IS out of this world! If you like crystals, natural beauty, and shiny things then go prepared with comfy clothes and shoes. I raced through just that part of the Natural History Museum and it took me more than two hours. Don’t miss Dorothy’s ruby slippers when you go to DC either!
If you want to get more gem lovin’ in your life, check out my hometown’s show, it’s the largest one in the world. Tucson Gem and Mineral Show in February annually.
I am a geologist with an extensive rock and mineral hoard, er, collection…so right now. My home looks very trendy and Pinterest-worthy! Love this trend and project!
This is amazing! I found a lamp base at World Market with gemstones around the bottom. It was absolutely beautiful… and $70! I can’t swing that for a desk lamp, although I’ve been wondering how I could get a similar effect. This might do the trick for me, thank you!
That looks so awesome! Also, I LOVE that y’all have started to incorporate more iPhone photos in your posts! It’s so refreshing to see more real world photos instead of only (not always necessarily ABM) editorialized, highly styled and professionally photographed pics.
I feel like one more step would have made the instructions clearer for me. There are no links to vinyl inkjet paper and I’m not familiar with it, so I’m wondering what is involved in the final step. Do you peel it like a sticker? Is it like cling film? Etc? TIA!
Okay, if I mouseover the image of Emma with the printer I see a step three and ghosted image of the template. Maybe the layout went wonky? Wanted to let you all know!
Ok, it’s fixed now. Thanks for letting us know! Here’s a link to the paper Emma used- https://amzn.to/2E5HNsY
I love this. Super unique. I’ve never seen anything like it.
http://www.thehalfmoonhome.com
Wow, that looks so stylish! Especially the crystal decals are so cool!
https://www.makeandmess.com/
So, how do I get these gemstones if I´m on a computer?
Hi! This particular design is only in our app, so you would have to use an iPhone. 🙂
This is so much fun! What a pretty and fun idea. You could use this idea so many ways, too!!! Way to go, Emma. You are way cooler than all of us.