I'm always on the lookout for things I can upcycle and use to decorate my home.  Last fall I found a 1970s wood and antique brass chandelier at the dump.  It was missing the screws and glass shades but I liked the overall look of it so I dragged it home for my guest bedroom. A few coats of white spray paint breathed new life into this light fixture.  Of course I was so excited to see it painted I forgot the obligatory before shot.   It looked a little like this one (see below) only the wood is oak and was a lighter stain colour. This is the only true glimpse of the before that you get.  This is antique brass part that I hung in a tree because I read on a blog that if you wanted to spray paint a chandelier it was best to hang it up.  Since I only use spray paint outdoors, the only thing handy was a tree. Why I even took this shot is beyond me... I must have realized too late that I forgot my before shot! This is the paint I used.  I love flat paint and this white is perfect in a flat finish.

Here is my chandelier.  I protected the tree from the spray paint by wrapping it with plastic. I sanded some of the paint off the wood to give it a shabby look and I wanted to add some sparkle.   I found crystal prisms at  D Lawless Hardware, see them HERE.  I love this online store, they offer the coolest things and at such a great price you can't resist! The prisms look like this I used these cute Christmas hangers for the prisms because the lampshade holders were too deep to allow the prisms to dangle freely.  I used the round crystals to cover the hole.  Then I wrapped the wire and chain with a wide satin ribbon that came with the Rachel Ashwell quilt I have on the bed. I would have liked to find some pretty cut glass shades to put over the light bulbs but so far I haven't found anything I like.  Meanwhile, I'm pretty happy with this new look and it sure beats that ugly, cheap and very dim boob light that used to be here. One more thing done! Disclaimer:  I have partnered with D Lawless Hardware to demonstrate some of their products.

Although I received free merchandise in exchange my review, the opinions stated are entirely my own. With a small budget, big dreams and a love of a challenge, Anne blogs about renovating and decorating her tiny 1930s bungalow. chandelier only fools and horses episodeA self-taught artist and professed power tool lover, she enjoys writing, gardening, photography, nature and diy'ing. chandelier ottawa kijijiAnd she's never met a dumpster she didn’t want to root through! chandeliers for hire in durbanCome along for the ride!!Get new posts via email!Can Can Dancer has moved. to see new DIY posts (and all past posts too!). Sign up for A Piece Of Rainbow weekly newsletter! Instruction to make an heirloom quality Rosary with eye pins and chain.

This example uses Sterling Silver parts & pieces, with glass beads, totalling $60 (incl. shipping). Makes a unique, heartfelt, and lasting gift. A more utilitarian (but still pretty) version can be made using base metal parts & pieces for under $20 (incl. shipping)./rosariesFeatured 10/29/09 - Welcome new viewers!-=-Step 1: Anatomy of a rosaryShow All Items« PreviousNext »View All Steps DownloadGrowing up by the beach in Southern California, the ability to knot a macrame bracelet was practically a right of passage. Although those days are long behind us, we’ve never forgotten the ever-so-simple square knot technique. This time, however, we’re replacing hemp and wooden beads for more updated elements like colorful nylon cord and glossy metal charms. Start by cutting the knotting cord into two 30 inch, two 20 inch and one 10 inch lengths.  Fold the 20 inch piece in half, pull the loop through the ring, fold it over the ring, and pull the rest of the cord through the loop. Repeat the step on the other side of the ring.

These strands will be anchored and remain stationary. Center the 30 inch cord under the two middle strands. Fold the right cord over the middle strands and under the left cord. Pull the left cord under the right and middle strands and through the loop on the right side. Pull tightly and slide the knot up to the top. Finish the 2nd half of the square knot by folding the left cord over the middle strands and under the right cord. Pull the right cord under the left and middle strands and through the loop on the left side. Pull tightly and repeat the steps – left, right, left, right . . . Continue knotting until the desired length is reached. Keep in mind that the clasp will take up approximately half an inch. To finish the knots, thread one of the cords onto a needle and sew up the center of 3-4 knots along the backside. Pliers will help pull the needle through the tight knots. Repeat the same step on the other cord. After sewing up both knotting cords, trim away any excess.

Save the scraps and melt the tips with a lighter to seal it for extra hold. Repeat the same exact step on the second half of the bracelet. To make a sliding closure, shape the bracelet into a circle and overlap the middle strands. Use scraps to temporarily tie the cords together at each end. Take the 10 inch cord and center it under the strands. Start tying square knots exactly the same way the bracelet was executed. Stop at about half an inch and sew the knotting cords into the backside of the closure. Remove the temporary ties. The two sets of middle strands are now the adjustable ties of the bracelet. Adjust to fit the wrist and tie each end into knots. Trim away any excess. Your adjustable knotted bracelets are finished!! (HonestlyWTF DIY bracelets & Tai pink crystal bracelet; Mr. Kate & Catbird rings; all images by HonestlyWTF)If you follow along on Instagram, you might recognize this DIY hanging flower installation from a video sneak peek that I shared on Sunday, and trust me, I’m just as giddy over it as you were!

It’s a project I’ve been wanting to make for a while now, and the new studio was the perfect white backdrop for it. I also love the photos Jared took of the finished piece (how awesome is this one below?!), and the fact that he helped me hang every last stem in the middle of a sunny, Friday afternoon while I was battling a severe case of hangry-ness. Somewhere in the middle of the frantic flowering it was true love even if we were way too checked out once everything was done to enjoy it at the time… To be able to suspend and space the flowers easier, I wanted to make something simple to reconstruct that would withstand the weight of the flowers while not being a total eyesore. Instead of creating more work for myself, I just repurposed the framed chicken wire from my DIY paper wall art post. Essentially it’s just a wooden canvas frame (however big you want the artwork/installation to be) with chicken wire stapled to the back. You can find the step by step photos for it here.

Once you have the wooden frame and chicken wire portion constructed, use a drill to drill a hole in each of the corners on one side of the frame. Next, screw an eye hook into each corner to be able to attach the picture wire. Measure how far down you’ll need the structure to hang from the ceiling (in our case, it was two feet). Loop the wire through and make a tight knot on one of the hooks, and wrap the excess wire around the loop and around the remaining wire until it’s secure. Now measure two feet of wire from the top of the hook (as opposed to pre-measuring and accidentally making different sized knots), leaving yourself about 4-6 inches extra to make a loop on the end. Repeat for all four corners. Once you have the hooks in place, use the wire loop enclosures to make a loop at the end of each corner to hang to structure evenly. Screw the other four cup hooks into the the ceiling equal distance to where each of your four corners of the structure will be placed, and suspend the loops from each.

To hang each stem, simply wrap and knot fishing wire (tightly, but not so tight it cuts through the stem) to the end of each flower. Hang each stem from the chicken wire by the other end of the fishing line, placing them sporadically as you go. Five hours and a few arguments later, you should have something that looks like this! You’ll definitely want to be sure that you install the flowers the day of (and as close as possible to the time) of the event or party so that the flowers are still fresh, and bright. We left ours up for three days to send how long it would last, and by the next day only two or three stems had fallen but they were definitely sad looking! Day three all of the colors were much darker with a few petals lost. The overall look is stunning and I would absolutely make it again for an occasion, but you definitely need to find a good wholesale flower supply to make it remotely affordable (then again, my DIY budget is probably much smaller than most event budgets!).