Tuesday, March 6, 2012

[ my diy capiz chandelier ]

YESTERDAY I showed you some beautiful capiz chandeliers and from the sounds of it, I'm not the only fan! I knew that I wanted one for our dining area, but that's where I hit a roadblock - nowhere in Dubai could I find one!

On to plan B ~ make my own!
I used this long chandelier from West Elm as my inspiration {I just wanted it a little shorter}...



Finding capiz shells here was impossible, and with Dubai's sporadic postal system, I wasn't about to order them online. So, I opted for faux capiz shells made from wax paper. {Finding wax paper ended up being a struggle as well ~ luckily I was able to get some of the wax paper sheets they use in bakeries when they handle your baked goods from the display!}



Next, I needed a form to hang the "shells" from. While you could use a wire hanging basket, or round cake cooling rack, I found an ornament hanger from Crate & Barrel around Christmastime which would work perfectly.



Start by ironing the wax paper sheets together in layers of 3 sheets {stack them between parchment paper so that you don't get wax on your ironing board}. Keep on ironing more sheets!



Once you've ironed them together, use a 1 1/2" circle punch to punch out your "shells". Depending on how large your form is and how long you want your shell strands, it could take a lot. Just keep punching! {this is great to do while watching tv}



Next, figure out how long you want your chandelier to be {I guessed about 36" long for the longest strands for mine so I divided 36" by 1.5 (the width of the shells) and ended up with 24 shells needed for the longest strands}. Count your shells into piles to speed up assembly. Roughly measure how many strands you will need to go around {the shell edges should touch or slightly overlap}. This is how many piles you will need of each length.




Time to sew the shells together! I compared the look of white thread against the shells and beige thread and found that white thread looked much too bright so I chose beige. Cream would work well but I didn't have any on hand.




Start sewing through each shell and feeding them through one after the next.



I sewed 24 shells together, pulled the thread to leave a space, then started with the next 24. This made dividing them easy, gave me a string for each to use for tying onto the form, and was much quicker than stopping and cutting the thread between each strand. Once you get the hang of it, it all goes pretty quickly.



To attach the strands to the form, tie them on with their threads {or you can double the length of your strands (24x2) and sew 48 together and then simply drape each strand in half over each ring on the form}. I chose to tie them onto the 2 innermost rings, then I doubled and draped the ones on the outermost ring to create a fuller look.



If your form has rings all at the same level, you'll need to calculate the length of your strands for each ring {mine was 24 shells for the inside ring, 18 shells for the middle ring, and 13 shells for the outer ring which I doubled to 26 and draped in half over the outer ring on the form}.



Done! Now it was up to my guy to figure out how to hang it from the lightbulb we already had there. He was able to use the wires that came on my form and attach them to the fixture somehow. You can use small cup hooks in the ceiling and attach it from there {our ceiling is concrete so I was trying to avoid drilling into concrete}.



And all lit up...


So there you have it! Not difficult, just a bit time-consuming but oh so worth it! Are you going to give it a try?

lisa

42 comments:

Johanna [Taloja ja Toiveita] said...

WOW! You took my breath away by the work you done! I was exhausted only by reading your process. Very nice job!

Tezzie said...

Holy crap, that's impressive! GREAT job <3

Formerly known as Frau said...

Omg....wow! Super impressed! It turned out awesome! Damn all I did yesterday was pay some bills and vacuum! You rock!

bluehydrangea said...

What??! This is crazy good!! I am beyond impressed, it looks fabulous!!

Lynda @ Happenstance Home said...

How great is that! Looks so elegant - who would have thought wax paper could look so good!

La Dolfina said...

Ditto the previous comments
You are soooo good!!!!
Stunning

Leanne said...

you are SUCH a smarty pants!! i love it....
we got another blast of winter...we are heading south on friday. i need me some ocean and sand!!
xo

Emily A. Clark said...

Wow! Beyond impressed :)

Jo @ In Corners of My Mind said...

WOW!!!! Fabulous! It looks absolutely stunning Lisa!
Love Love Love!

Pinecone said...

You would never know that that was wax paper!! Beautiful!!!!!!!
This is an amazing diy - my fave from you...so far of course, because who knows what you will come up with next ;)!!
xo
Ashlyn

Meeling said...

WOW!!! Lisa it's fabulous. A lot of time but oh so worth it!! I wish I had a place for one of those...hmmm...may have to rethink to make a spot for one!!

Thanks for sharing your great diy. :-)

Carissa @ the Fabulous Design File said...

Wow!!! That is amazing! It looks so real! And absolutely stunning when lit up!

Kristen516 said...

Beautiful! Great job!

jessica said...

OMG!!!! You are sooooo patient...and crafty! What an awesome idea! That looks sooo amazing :) ....the best part about your shells...they won't break!

This is seriously the best diy project I've seen in a lloooonnnngg time :)

Have a fabulous day...enjoying your beautiful creation!

~*Jessica

Meagan, in house nester said...

SUPER DUPER awesome Lisa! You are such a champ - great job.. You made it seem so easy and quickie quick although I am sure it took ages..
Meagan

Tiffany @ {Living Savvy} said...

Girl you had me out of my chair when I saw the end result! THIS IS AMAZING! I am literally shouting and jumping out of my chair! I LOVE IT! Great job!

Pinecone Camp said...

Wow! Well done, Lisa. It's so beautiful. Incredible.

Lisa @ Fern Creek Cottage said...

It sounds like it was a lot of work but it looks TOTALLY FABULOUS!!!! I just love it!

Unknown said...

great job this is awesome

tracie c. said...

HOW DID I MISS THIS!!!! ohhhhhh lisa!!!!! this is WONDERFUL!!!! talk about style on a dime and eco friendly. can not express how impressed i am with this!!!
xox tracie

Amy @ Five Kinds of Happy said...

Oh my word... I CANNOT believe you did this yourself???!!!! May I please share this on my blog?? I will try to email you now. xo
Amy

www.fivekindsofhappy.com

Janell @ House of Fifty said...

Get out!!! This thing rocks, amazing! Janell

Carolyn@Sweet Chaos Home said...

You are amazing!! And, obviously, you have the patience of a saint too :)

Such a creative and beautiful chandelier. Love the entire space with your chairs, painting, table runner. Fabulous!!!!

Lissa Pierce said...

Wow! That looks amazing. I so wish I had the patience and actually finish a project like this. It totally looks exactly like the real thing!

annie@mostlovelythings said...

Wow! This is kind of amazing! Really beautiful. I can't believe you made that. It looks perfect in your room.
xo annie

emily said...

This is fabulous! I would have never guessed that it was made out of wax paper. It's absolutely stunning!

Unknown said...

Wow-it's remarkable and so creative-Following you from TDC-stop by for a visit!

DTTD imagine.design.create said...

Hi Lisa, I just discovered your blog through The Fabulous Deign File where Carissa blogged about your DIY capiz chandelier. I've already got my mind set on making one, so the timing couldn't be better! Your chandelier is absolutely beautiful. I'm so excited to do this project, and I think I've found the perfect spot to hang it in my house. Thanks for the inspiration!

Kelly

Anne-Marie @ 10 Rooms said...

Lisa, I love that! Who needs capiz shells? That is really impressive.

Desiree said...

this is amazing! I must do it! Thanks for the how to. Can I ask how many circles of the ornament hanger you used to attach the strands to. I'm thinking you did 3? Is that right?

Thank you! Beautiful job!

Unknown said...

this is totaly amazing ! i had no clue it can be a diy project! love it

Amber said...

Hopping over from Daniel Oakey's blog. Wow! This is incredible!

Jessica said...

This is stunning! I want a beautiful light fixture for my hallway, but I can't find one I like. I think I might try a miniature version of what you did here. I love it, and I have a whole roll of waxed paper in my kitchen.

Kahli said...

This is amazingggg! I have to work up the urge to try this for my entry way.

concretenprimroses said...

Terrific!
I love it. Thanks for the tutorial.
Kathy

Emma Powell said...

Omg! You are soo clever. I have wanted a huge one of these for ages and am now going to make one for our bedroom...if I can find the waxed paper!
TheaLilyloves.blogspot.co.uk

Julia@Cuckoo4Design said...

Wow this chandelier is awesome. Love it and great job!

Monica said...

Wow! I love it. My husband has these rolls, and rolls of mylar. It's from back in his drafting days and he doesn't want it to go to the garbage. I have been wanting it out the garage for a while because they are in a box that takes sooo much room. But, seems like the mylar has found its destiny! :)

Anonymous said...

Beautiful. I'm curious if the heat from the light
affects the paper disks...?

Unknown said...

Thanks for the idea I made 6 of these for my daughter's wedding and they turned out beautiful everyone absolutely loved them. Whew it took a lot of wax paper and time but was worth it in the end.

Unknown said...

Thanks for this wonderful idea I made 6 of these for my daughter's wedding reception and they were beautiful everyone was amazed at what they were made of. It took a lot of wax paper and time but well worth it.So thanks again

CK SN said...

Well done and WOW! (Visiting from Knock Off Decor)

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