I love arts and crafts of the grown-up variety so when we moved into our house last year I made a list of home decor items that I wanted to create. Slowly but surely I checked most of the items off of the list such as the "Live Laugh Love" wall art, mosaic mirror, rainbow kitchen dining set, mirror wall arrangement, Mexican serape couch cushions, etc. (see most of them in my Rainbow Land post).
One item that I still longed to create but had not yet found the right materials for was a colourful chandelier for our kitchen. I had several ideas on how I would accomplish the project and the main part consisted of finding an old chandelier frame that I could revamp. I kept my eyes open and checked on Kijiji and eBay every so often, but had yet to find the perfect frame at the perfect price point - until a few weeks ago. As a pro arts & crafter (self-appointed title) I'm always looking for ways to transform ordinary items, so when I spotted a simple black iron chandelier on Kijiji for a killer price I knew it would do the trick.
I wanted the chandelier to be the focal point of the room so I painted it in a white gloss so it would pop against the dark grey kitchen walls. I decided that I would make a fabric slip cover for the chain because trying to paint it was super annoying and the electrical cord was black which was also annoying. I then had to figure out a) what kind of crystal strands I would use (I would probably have to order them online like my turquoise crystals) and b) how I would attach them to the chandelier which did not currently have any crystals or hooks to attach them.
One afternoon while creating jewellery my mind started to wander and all of a sudden worlds collided and a light bulb went off - I could make the strands out of bright coloured beads in the same format as my multi-colour jewellery!!!!!! (Extra exclamation marks there because that's seriously how excited I got).
The most challenging part was that I wanted each strand to be different from the next with only one of each colour yet all the same length, so it took a lot of meticulous bead sizing and sorting. Once I had the beads organized I created the 24 different strands I required. I then decided to hang the chandelier first and attach the strands afterwards to ensure the best placement (special thanks to my handyman Dad for his electrical skills).
Finally as I attached each strand to the chandelier my heart beat a little faster as I realized how awesome it was turning out. Once it was done I literally sat and stared at it from every angle and have made my husband and every visitor since do the same. I am so in love with my new chandelier and could not be more pleased with the result.
Introducing, the original Vintage Pink Treasures chandelier:
:: chain cover I quickly sewed using white & silver fabric I already had ::
:: although pretty, the pictures don't even do it justice ::
:: chandelier inspiration: Vintage Pink Treasures multi-colour necklace ::
:: before shot of previous (boring) kitchen light fixture & chandelier in black before the paint job::
all photos by me
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