#181- How to Make a Capiz Chandelier

You may remember that as thrilled as we were to be chosen for Bath Crashers, one of the things we could have lived without was the lighting they installed.  Specifically, 13 feet of track lighting.

It's a personal opinion, but track lighting just isn't our bag baby.  To me it looked a little too "officey" for the upscale bathroom.  But then fate turned our way, (if you consider a 13 foot stick of track light malfunctioning, and burning a spot in the ceiling a positive turn of fate.)  We had some pretty tense moments, but when all was said and done our electrician from the show came back and installed two simple flush mount lights in it's place.

And that's pretty much how we had been living, with the bare blubs and all, until this weekend when I finally tackled our light project.  I wanted chandeliers here, but the Hubs didn't want anything "too frilly or sparkly."  Which left us to compromise on a capiz chandelier.  We knew we already love the one in the Dining Room, and I think a few repetitive elements through out this big house can tie it together.  But I certainly wasn't up for paying the big West Elm investment again on a chandy like this. 

I've been browsing Pinterest for months checking out great DIY versions like this one which make the shells out of wax paper, but in the end I decided that I wanted to swing for real shells.  I was already pretty nervous about a DIY chandy making this beautiful new space look cheap, and I didn't want to risk it with fake shells as well.  It helped that I found these shells for an incredibly low price- 100 shells, 2 hole drilled, for just $28.95!  I bought two packs, one for each light, as well as a package of fishing line for $1.99. 

I wanted the frame to look classy too, so I was pumped to find a pair of these trivets in my buffet.  They are stainless steel and about 10" in diameter with 3 rings- perfection.

 

The shells came in these nifty little packs.  I took my fishing line and started by stringing up lines of 3, 4 and 5 shells. 

Once I had a bunch, I started tying them to my trivet.  In each of the 3 sections I put two 5 strings on the inside, four 4 strings on the middle, and five three stings on the outside.

It wasn't until I started to put them up for the first time that I realized that the little hooked feet were really distracting.  I carefully sawed them off with a metal saw.  This step sounds easy, but cutting metal is just friction over time, and I had worked up a David Hasselhoff style sweat before I had all three removed. 

Then I just placed the trivet over my flush mount light, and used the screws that were supposed to keep the glass bulb on the fixture to hold the trivet up.

I don't think you're ready for this jelly.

It was tough to get a good shot with the lighting, but I'm thrilled with how they turned out.  They definitely "glam up" the room, while still using natural elements so it feels modern and unique.  Not too fussy.  Of course the whole space would look so much better with doors on my closets, and we're considering frosting the mirror doors on Jason's closets, but we're coming along. 

Better than this- right?