9 easy vintage doily crafts

Bring a delicate glow to a room with a decorated paper shade. Working one area at a time, paint the shade with tacky craft glue. Lay a doily on the shade and apply more glue over top. Leave to dry. Continue until shade is covered.

Stiffened doilies are easy to cut with scissors. Simply treat your doily with Plaid Stiffy fabric stiffener and leave to dry. Here, glued layers of snipped flower motifs make a stunning fashion accessory. Tie ribbon to either side and it’s ready to wear.

Need small storage that hides al your bits and pieces? Give inexpensive MDF boxes a makeover with paint and a doily lid.

Wonderfully tactile, these ornamental stones could be used as paperweights, but they look lovely grouped as a display. Simply wrap a doily around a stone and secure at the back with an elastic band. Paint the underside with tacky craft glue and leave to dry. Using lare scissors, cut away excess doily between stones and band, then apply more glue to cute area. Done!

For a play on the traditional doily runner, make a collage! Arrange your doilies, pin where they overlap, then machine- or hand-stitch together following their shapes.

Shape clever organiser bowls with handy fabric stiffener. 

For a quick cushion update, simply hand stitch a large doily to the front of an existing cushion. Or, if you’re happy making cushion covers, pin a doily to a square of fabric then machine- or hand-stitch in place and use for the front of your cover.

These butterflies are a common motif found in doilies. First, paint a doily with fabric stiffener and leave to dry. Then cut the butterflies free from their doily using embroidery scissors and gently bend into shape.

Intricately detailed doilies make lovely wall art when framed. Give your doily a good iron, then discreetly hand stitch to a square of fabric using sewing thread. Stretch fabric around backing board and pop it into a simple square frame to add a modern twist.