How exactly does one get coffee stains on a lamp shade?

No idea. But it happened to me.
A couple years ago, I got these really cute lamps at Marshall's for $20. For me, it was a bit of a splurge, but I fell immediately in love and brought them home. It was my reward for keeping my Christmas shopping well under budget.
They have been sitting dutifully atop our bedside tables for almost 2 years now, and they have served their purpose well. They still make me happy, and I still think they are just absolutely stunning. But several months ago I noticed that one of them had a stain on it. I can only assume it's coffee, or else it is pop, but whatever it was I knew I had to get rid of it.

So I thought to myself, "Great. I have to buy a new lamp shade." Actually, I thought I should probably buy 2, since they were matching lamps. I am not someone who think if you have a set of lamps that they all have to look alike - I myself have a pair of stainless steel lamps in my living room that have slight differences (pictured on this blog in an early post). But these were clearly a set, and I wanted them to match.
So, look I did. I went to all the stores, even new ones, and everything was either way too expensive or just didn't go with the style of the lamp. Then someone suggested buying fabric flowers and covering the spot by hot-gluing them over the spot. A great idea, but as you can see, the stain was pretty much almost half the lampshade.
So I decided to use fabric paint.
Fabric paint is incredibly fun and easy if you do it right. Especially with lamp shades, the proper strokes and amount must be applied, since the light shining through will expose any mistakes. I found a mustard yellow color of fabric paint on sale at Wal-Mart for $2.50. When I applied it, I knew it was the best choice. I loved the color!

Please excuse the cluttered workspace.
The process does take time, and for this kind of job, I needed to apply 3 coats, plus touch-ups in any patches I missed or somehow painted lighter than others. It is also washable after 72 hours.

Voila! Lamp perfection!
Be crafty, think outside the box, and remember that sometimes you can be thrifty by choosing to put a little elbow grease into a project rather than spending money to fix it. Based on the average prices for lampshades, I figure I easily saved about $50 by doing this project myself.
Thrifting is more than thrift stores. Being crafty can greatly reduce the amount of money you spend on things like home décor and even your wardrobe. I plan on learning how to sew so that I can make some clothes for myself!
Happy thrifting, and happy crafting!