The Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis, are GORGEOUS if you can see them live.  If you can’t see them live, the next best thing is to create your own Northern Lights at your home!  This is a great night light since the colors are soothing and beautiful, and you can make them as saturated in color as you would like. And of course, I was inspired by a Hallmark movie…how can you not be. Here is how you can get started at home.

You Will Need:

• White fabric in a polyester silk blend
• Fabric dye in black, green, aqua and blue
• Glass bowl
• Eye dropper glass bottles or larger plastic condiment bottles
• Parchment or wax paper
• Paper towels
• Vinyl gloves
• Water or sink to work next to
• Fabric scissors or rotary cutter and cutting mat
• Cylindrical table lamp
• Black acrylic paint
• White acrylic paint
• Artist paint brushes
• Double-sided tape

• Drying rack
• Clothes pins
• Fray Check

How-To:

1. First, prep the dyes by boiling water, adding in the dyes and putting each dye into individual droppers or condiment bottles.

2. Measure the circumference and height of your lamp or lampshade, this is the measurement of your fabric.

3. Cut a piece of your fabric to size.

4. Wet the fabric and wring it out so that it is still wet but not dripping.

5. Set the fabric on a glass cutting board if possible, or a surface that you know will not absorb the dye color. Glass works great!

6. Take the dropper filled with the blue dye and drop along the fabric, moving in a top to bottom direction. Make sure to leave some white spots, areas that will represent the stars in the Northern lights.

7. Quickly take the dropper filled with aqua dye and add that color in various areas.

8. Quickly take the dropper filled with black dye and just add black to the top.

9. Quickly take the dropper filled with green dye and add in various areas.

10. Now lift the fabric and let the colors run. Hold this for 2-3 minutes and let the colors mix and run.

PRO TIP: If you can’t hold it, use some clothes pins to hang it up over a non-dye absorbing material.

11. Lay the fabric on a drying rack or a bunch of paper towels and let dry.

12. Once fully dry, take the black acrylic paint on an artist’s brush and draw a straight line across the bottom 1/3 up from the bottom.

13. Build that line up on the left and the right side to look like the silhouettes of mountains.

14. Take white paint and a painter’s brush and dab the fabric to look like stars.

15. Let dry. If you’re worried about fraying, you can add Fray Check to the edges once the fabric is dry.

16. Wrap fabric around your lamp, secure with double-sided tape and enjoy!