Craft Challenge August 2013: Bring a touch of 'Glass' - An Outdoor Chandelier Tutorial.

 

I was chatting online to Anja while she was making this month's project, which was definitely not a tactic in the competition. So basically she made this one-handed or something like that and it still looks AMAZING. Darn it! You can vote for your favourite project and add your own next week to our end of the month link-up. I am now going to go off and busy myself with writing an actual blog post. So tomorrow you can ACTUALLY come back and read something about what I've been up to recently. I know, I'm spoiling you right?
This month's topic - crafting something for the outside - should be totally up my alley. Turns out, it would be. If I had more time. So instead of all those awesome projects that I could have done (and that my garden might actually deserve) I opted for a small, cheap project for which I didn't need to buy new supplies because you can find them in your regular craft stash: a mini garden chandelier.

You need one of those metal hoops used for wreath-making, beads, string, crafting wire, and a little lantern with a handle (without the handle, it is going to be a bit more difficult).

First of all, you have to create two wire crossbeams which enable you to just slip the chandelier onto the lantern.

Then I made several loops out of wire to which I could easily attach whatever beads I wanted to attach. Of course, you could skip that step and tie them directly to the big hoop, but then they could slip. Mine were about 2 1/2 inch apart.

Now it's time for your imagination. String up beads and attach them to the little loops. I started like this:

Then I attached longer elements. Here's how I created them (of course you can make them as long as you like):

After a little bit more time that I had hoped I was finally done. I put it up in a tree in our garden and we had a nice dinner underneath it.

Of course, there are lots of ways to add more bling to the mini chandelier, by using crystals or adding a second layer (with a smaller hoop). But for me, this is just right.

I hope you enjoyed this sparkly project. Next week, it's time for your own outdoor projects. I can't wait to see what you have created!
I enjoyed this project very much and had seen those metal circle things in the craft shop and wanted to make something with them - just not quite got there yet. I am motivated to buy some when the store reopens this week. Watch this space....