CLOTH CHANDELIER

I was inspired by one of my favorite blogs to attempt this cloth chandelier. And I must say, it is my favorite DIY project I've ever done, so thanks Elise + Emma from A Beautiful Mess for this idea! You can find their tutorial here. A few things I did differently...

1. Instead of a cookie rack, I used this decoration hanging up in my friend's (Michelle, aka twinner) kitchen. I liked that it was big and oval...and free!

2. One trick about fabric is you don't have to cut all those strips by hand! If you just put a small cut at one end, you can tear it all the way down, saving you lots of jagged edged cuts and hours of frustration.

3. I'm not the biggest fan of sewing, so I decided to just tie the fabric in knots around the bars and it worked! 

4. I used the cheapest white fabric I could for the bulk of it, with a coupon I think it was 75 cents a yard. I bought some nice creamy fabric and a few yards of chunky lace for the outer edges to keep it soft. I wanted the chenille they used but I couldn't find it in any fabric stores! Sad day.

5. I cut all my strips the same length and waited until they were all on to add or remove strips. Most importantly, I waited till the end to shape it to look like a chandelier.

Lessons learned: 

1. DO NOT buy LED lights, this beautiful chandelier went from elegant to a scary halloween decoration in a second, haha.

2. Don't hang this yourself if you are not 100% confident. We have cement ceilings, so I asked my handy father-in-law and the husband to take care of that part of the project. 

Let me know if you attempt this project. I highly recommend it if you need something to take your space up to the next level but don't want to spend a lot of money. I also think this would be cute if you dyed the fabric giving it an ombre effect. 

Joanna

*I was asked about the lighting situation...It is lit up by white Christmas lights strung throughout the cloth. Also, I tested the lights for multiple hours and they never got hot, so no fire hazard :)