Oyster Shell Lampshade

"Well, I may be edging perilously close to ‘too much of good thing’…I don’t think I’m there quite yet, however I do probably need to take a hiatus from oyster shell projects. But, this oyster shell lampshade has been brewing in my head for over a year and I was driven to heed the call. So now that I have it out of my system, I can move on to other projects. And in all honesty, I’ve only done 3 oyster shell projects over the past year…these oyster shell clusters, my oyster shell mirror and now this lamp…that averages to one every 4 months…that’s not too bad. But it does need to be said, I am REALLY tickled with this lampshade. Now, I know an oyster shell lampshade may not be everyone’s cup of tea. Both of my men looked at it and said…”Hmmm…don’t you need some material under there somewhere?” and my son also said, “I mean, you can see the lightbulb.”"

Materials List

• 84+ relatively flat oyster shells, cleaned ( I had 21 ‘strands’ with 4 shells each). You need a few extras to allot for the ones that will inevitably break while drilling the holes.
• Drill with small drill bit
• 84- 10 mm jump rings (or as many Oysters as you are using)
• Lamp Shade (I found mine at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore for $5)- You want one with straight sides…nothing that flares or your strand of oysters won’t hang straight. Mine measures 9″ diameter by 12″ tall.
• Pair of Pliers to squeeze jumps rings closed
• If the top and bottom of your lamp shade are separate, you need a couple of cords about the length you want your lampshade to be. I was extremely lucky and had 3 bungee cords that were 12″ and that worked perfectly!
• Hot glue gun

NotesI’m loving this oyster shell lampshade in my dining room.

I used a low wattage soft white light bulb which produced a very soft light with no bright glare. The shadows on the wall in the evening are really lovely.