Do-It-Yourself Winter Wedding Decor: Bubble Chandelier

We’re feeling extra bubbly today (pun intended) at 100 Layer Cake, the wedding and event idea website, and we've got a great feature today for all our Sheffield Says readers! We covered Kara and Andrew’s wedding on our site and fell in love with their glass bubble ceiling so much that we scoured the interweb for more bubbly goodness. Which brings us to this chandelier on Alison’s ever-so-sultry boudoir blog, Frou Frou Fashionista. We’re huge fans of how the final piece came out and adore that both Alison and her mom made it for only $300! Now, it’s your turn. This will look great as part of a winter wedding decor, a winter event, or an interior design decorating project.

Supplies:
•   2′x4′ white wire grid panel (though you can do any shape or size) (about $15-$23)
•   CB2 Bubble Balls (50 small & 40 large) ($1.95 ea small, $3.95 ea large)
•   Silver Christmas ball ornaments (80 small, 80 medium)
•   Fishing line (we bought high knot strength /30 lb.) $3
•   One spool of sterling silver wire (20-22 gauge). You can also do 22 gauge floral wire.
•   4 ceiling mounting hooks
•   white chain (about 10 feet, cut evenly into 4 pieces)
•   4 S-hooks
•   2 lamp cord kits from Urban Outfitters (white) $12 ea
•   2 half mirror light bulbs $9 ea

Tools you will need:
 •   a 2" nail
•   Pliers
•   one pair of wire cutters (or use scissors if you must)
•   Scissors

Step 1: Insert your 4 chandelier hooks into the ceiling and attach about 2-3 feet of your white chain to each (make sure it is secured in the ceiling so as to carry the weight of the chandelier!). You need that extra amount of chain so that you can bring down the wire grid low enough to work on and install the lighting fixtures (and then raise up to the ceiling when you are done). Suspend the wire grid from the ceiling using your chains and s-hooks.

Step 2: At your work table, cut the silver wire into 2″ pieces (your quantity depends on the number of glass balls you are using). Loop each 2″ piece once around a nail to create the toggle. You can use pliers to adjust the size of the loop, particularly to make it small enough to fit inside the top of the glass bubble.

Step 3: Cut a piece of fishing line a few feet long. Knot one end to the silver toggle you just made. Slip the toggle inside the top of the glass CB2 ball. Then attach the other end of the fishing line to the wire grid. Hang each glass ball at varying lengths. We started from the center of the grid and worked our way out.

Step 4: In the very center of the grid we added our 2 light sockets. We wired both sockets close to the top of the grid and plugged in both cords to the ceiling fixture (or you can easily have an electrician wire the cords to a single ceiling outlet). Plug in your Half Mirror Light Bulbs.

Step 5: We added silver ball ornaments to the chandelier. We hung these balls extremely close together near the top of the grid so as to completely conceal it (the grid shouldn’t show when you’re done). For some of the balls we created toggles using our silver wire, and for some we simply used Christmas ornament hooks! Make sure that for each ball you hang directly on the grid that you twist the wire together so the hooks will not fall off if the chandelier is ever shaken (we live in California, so it’s a factor we need to consider!).

Step 6 (optional): We ended up creating a cover around the top of the chandelier so as to conceal the chains holding it up as well as the sides of the wire grid. We simply created a light-weight crate that could be hooked to the chains holding up the rest of the chandelier. It was painted a pale pink to match the color of the walls in our store. Another option is to create a framework around the chandelier and cover it in a semi-sheer fabric so as to let the light shine through, much like a lamp shade. If you hook the chandelier close enough to the ceiling, you don’t need any cover…we simply have high ceilings in our store and wanted something to finish the look of the piece.

Bookmark this post, print it out, do what cha got to do to save this baby for your next DIY project, and have fun with it. Imagine all the goodies you can put inside – glitter, confetti, succulents, flowers… And, please let us know (and send photos) if you end up making one of these for your wedding. We can’t get enough!

{top photo by Sarah Yates for Rue Magazine, multiple photo grouping by Alison, bottom photo by Aruna B. Photography}

Thanks to 100 Layer Cake for their beautiful photographs, posts, and wedding and event inspiration. 100 Layer Cake is a unique, comprehensive wedding and event planning resource for and by thoughtful, crafty modern women. Their vendors, projects, weddings, resources, sponsors, and marketplace are hand-picked and thoroughly researched with the hope that every single one is a truly unique addition to both your wedding and your planning process. Visit the 100 Layer Cake website today.

If you're interested in learning more about wedding and event planning, we encourage you to explore the Sheffield School, New York, NY. Sheffield began as an Interior Design school in 1985, and then expanded our course offerings to train people in other design-related fields, including Feng Shui, Wedding and Event Planning, and Jewelry Design. With thousands of active students and more than 50,000 graduates, Sheffield has trained more design professionals than any school in the world.

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Interior Design: New Discoveries in Furnishings

Interior design is one of those professions that is constantly changing. There is always a new resource to find! To prove this point, I went looking for three resources that I had never heard of before. Guess what? I discovered many more than three, but these examples will surfice. My bottom line: keep researching new resources, and you'll be rewarded with treasures you'll want to use again and again in your design projects.

John Reeves

I found a furniture maker with a philosophy that's in perfect synch with my decorating and interior design ethic. UK furniture designer John Reeves tries not to follow design trends. Instead, he insists on designing clean, contemporary furniture with nods and twists to past periods and styles, but all with an attempt to create "antiques of the future," decor elements that someone can live with for a lifetime.

I'm tired of disposable decorating and furnishings. They insult homeowners and my clients. Good quality pieces hold or gain value over the years and, when mixed with more moderate priced pieces, add impact and timelessness to a room unlike anything else.

Reeves isn't buying into the disposable culture where you purchase a mass-produced item that will last only a few years and must be disposed of. And if you're making furniture for the long haul, it better be sustainable, too. Reeves only uses sustainably sourced timbers and he also uses discarded materials in his work, like scrap marble.

In his Sketch collection, Reeves uses old aluminum engine blocks from Vietnam and melts them down into recycled furniture (beautiful sand cast pieces that have a finish not unlike rough, washed river stones). Click on each image for more product information, and visit the Reeves Design website.

Gallotti&Radice

I'm having fun with the new Home catalog from contemporary Italian designers Gallotti&Radice. Their so-chic offerings are client pleasers, and I've been having fun proposing items for projects requiring high style, great design, and timeless modernity. Here are five current favorites from their catalog - but, believe me, there are more favorites to be had. Click on each photo for more product information.

Glasitalia

Consider the perfection of glass shelves. They're easy to clean. They hold anything and are strong. They don't add superficial patterns or colors to your decor. And they're beautifully sculptural whenever they're well designed. Click on these photos to check out some of the amazing glass shelving creations from Glasitalia. I highly recommend this resource!