How to make your own Clip It Up

It is the bottom of a lamp that I got from the recycle bin at the local thrift store. It is weighted so it works great!Here are the steps I took to make my clip it up.Supplies I used:

1. 30″ threaded lamp rod (If you can find one longer, that’s even better) CLICK HERE for Lowe’s link.
2. Two lampshades (one bigger than the other). You can get them at the thrift store or maybe you have one around the house you aren’t using. Make sure the inside of the top of the lampshade looks like this: It’s important to make sure that it does NOT have an entire frame, I learned the hard way that it is almost impossible to cut off the top part and not have sharp metal pieces sticking out. (See picture below of what NOT to buy)
   
   
3. 8 Nuts, 4 washers and 2 lock washers (I used a LOT more than this due to *uh-hem* Technical Difficulties LOL but the notes I made listed that many) Just make sure you have extras on hand. They have to fit the threaded rod so you should get the kind from the lighting section at Lowes or Home Depot. CLICK HERE for Lowe’s link.
   And then regular steel washers that fit the threaded rod.
4. A finial for the top (I forgot to get one so mine isn’t there yet if you look at my picture).
5. Spray paint – Spray paint the threaded rod first because the paint may not stick later (you’ll see why – again, I learned the hard way LOL). I spray painted the rest when it was all together, it made it easier for me.
6. “Clarice” dangler clips from joann.com – This is what I use to hang my stickers, they are swivel clips (they must swivel) but you can also use a multitude of other things like, paper clips, etc. The clips are just easier for me and I don’t like the look of all those paper clips lol

Okay so here is how I put it all together…

Assembly Instructions

1. Paint your threaded rod and let it dry
2. Choose and prepare your base and secure the threaded rod to the base with your washers and nuts.
3. Next I measured about 14-15″ up the rod (I used my longest sticker pack to see how much length I needed) and made a mark with my sharpie. Then I screwed a nut onto the rod where the mark was, followed by a lock nut and another nut.
   (Remember it’s nut/lock nut/nut) .
4. Once it was tight, I used WD-40 (you can use PAM) on the top nut (which got onto the threaded rod which is why the paint wouldn’t stick to it, hence the advice to paint it first).
5. Then I put my biggest lampshade frame on and a little more WD-40 on top of the shade frame (circle in the middle part) and then added a nut/lock nut/nut and tightened it.
   Congrats! The first half is done, you should be able to spin it. If it won’t spin, loosen the nuts a little, that’s what I had to do.
6. For the top tier (you can have as many as you want depending on your setup), measure how far you want the next rack to be (decide what you are going to hang on each tier before you make it, then you can use your product to decide how to measure the tiers). Then repeat the steps above for installing the next tier..
7. Add a finial to the top (if you want) and last but not least, spray paint that baby and add your goodies to it!

A few tips you may want to keep in mind. Make sure the sizes of each tier start largest at the bottom and smaller as you go up. Also, it is important to have the base weighted or big enough so that it doesn’t fall over when you fill it up.

If you make your own clip-it-up, I’d love to see a picture! Good luck! (It’s easier than it sounds)