Faux Capiz Shell Chandelier

Happy Friday!  Thought I’d share a little project I did back when I was pregnant with #2.  I was surfing around pinterest one day for DIY chandeliers.  (I’ve recently come to realize that I have a chandelier fetish…Some girls have shoes, bags or clothing fetishes…nope, not me.  I love chandeliers…can’t get enough of them.  I think I’d have one in every room of my house if I could…actually – we practically do come to think of it.)  I was looking for something to replace the lighting in my downstairs bath...

 

...and came across a great tutorial for a DIY capiz shell chandelier.  Guess what it’s made of?  WAX PAPER!  Yep, I almost fell out of my chair when I saw it.  Best part of this one too, no rewiring required. (Say that 5 times fast)  This is a great one to do when your prego…requires a lot of sitting, cutting, sewing and patience.  The first time I tried it I cut each individual circle out by hand.  It was a lot faster/easier with a circle cutter…probably cut the time in half actually.  But, it is not necessary to complete this project. 

1.       2 Boxes Wax Paper

2.       Iron

3.       Sewing Machine

4.       Scissors

5.       Old Lamp Shade

6.       Cup Hooks

7.       Muffin Tin

 Instructions:

     1.       Take your old lamp shade and cut the fabric off so you are left with just the skeleton.

2.       Take your wax paper, pull off 3 large pieces and iron together.  Set aside; pull off 3 more, iron.  Repeat until you have used all of the wax paper.

3.       Find a circular object (I used a candle votive) and start tracing.  Trace, trace trace trace.  (Here is where a circle cutter comes in handy – you can get them at JoAnn Fabrics for around $20 and you can skip this step.

4.       Start cutting…and cutting, and cutting

5.       Place circles in muffin tin.

6.       Sew circles together.  I sewed one long strand, and gave myself a few extra stitches every 18^th circle…so I could cut them apart.

7.       Cut strands of 18 (or whatever length you desire).

8.       Hang strands over the edges of your skeleton lamp shade.

9.       Screw 3 or 4 cup hooks around your light source.

10.   Hang chandelier

11.   Enjoy!

 

Here's the lampshade I started with:

 

And this is a shot of one of the smaller strands...(thank you Vanna!)

 

 

And here's the end product....next to the old light fixture for full effect. 

And here's a shot of it with the light on:

 

 

Much better right?  Not bad I guess for about $9....I liked it enough to make 2...