Hiding old glass lamp shades

My dining room light is pretty ugly. The original glass shade isn't bad if you don't look at it too closely, but it's not made for modern light bulbs. When I moved in the dining room was sporting a massive energy efficient bulb that stuck out 4 inches past the bottom of the shade. To cut down on the glare, I hung a basket over the bulb with fishing line. This was meant to be a temporary solution, but as you can see, I kept it that way for a year.

The biggest problem is that the glass shade is 6" in diameter, and I couldn't take it off. I needed something that would have a wide enough opening to fit around the existing shade. All of the paper lanterns I looked at had a wire across the top, cutting the open space in two. I started looking at bamboo shades and burlap canisters, but they were too expensive for my budget. Most had their own wiring and hanging systems already. Finally I settled on a regular lamp shade that I found at Goodwill.

The straight sides of the shade are crucial--they allow me to flip it upside down without getting an awkward shape. This means the crossbars are at the bottom, leaving the top open to fit around the existing glass shade.

I used picture hanging wire to attach the shade. It took a bit of work to figure out how high the bulb should be, so I was glad for the flexibility of the wire. 

And for $7 I have a modern, cleaner look and no glare.