DIY Umbrella Chandelier from Free People

          I'm so excited to share this guest post from Free People, a premiere bohemian clothing boutique. (I'm sure you have heard of them...) This project is so inspiring and pretty. I have a window in my kitchen that looks into the living room that needs something new hanging from it. It NEEDS it. I've been thinking about a chandelier and luckily this project has come into my life! AND Wouldn't this be a great project to use up-cycled materials with? Enjoy! 

The Free People store display design team recently created beautiful umbrella chandeliers for the Pittsburgh store. Take a look at this intriguing chandelier display made of paper umbrellas, stripped and then beaded, which we hung above the dressing rooms to evoke the spirit of artist Sylvia Marius.

Here’s a DIY for you so you can tackle this abstraction on your own:

You’ll Need:

1.       A paper umbrella (Not the kind in your Tiki Palace Drink. Think: Chinatown! Party Supply stores!)

2.       Cord, twine or heavy string.

3.       Beads! There are never too many beads in the world.

4.       Scissors.

5.       Strips of fabric, for fun.

6.       Tape or glue.

You’ll Do:

1.     Open umbrella. Cut paper from the umbrella frame. Don’t cut the string parts. Just remove the paper. (You can leave some paper for artistic purposes too.)

2. Wrap handle and post of umbrella in fabric strips if desired.

 

3. Measure pieces of twine that will span from one spoke’s end to the umbrella handle, when the umbrella is fully opened. Add a few inches for tying and knots. Tie one end of twine to end of umbrella spoke.

 

4. String beads. If you like, you can sting beads and knot them, leaving string in between beads to space them out.

5.  When finished beading, tie the end of the twine to the umbrella handle. Don’t pull too tight, but a little curve in the spokes will be OK. Secure both ends with tape or glue.

6. Add strands of beads and/or strips of fabric as your heart desires.

   

 

Hang ‘er up and you’re done!

 

This guest post was contributed by Free People, a premiere bohemian clothing boutique. For more DIY posts, check out their blog at http://blog.freepeople.com/ every Wednesday!

Paper Wreath! A Monday Share

So, Bea and I are kind of obsessed with crafting blogs lately! And it is nice to see what others are making, up-cycling and crafting. I've been loving the cork wreath that Bea made and had been wanting to make a wreath for myself. And I sure did get inspired to make this wreath!

I first saw this wreath over at Curbly, which led me to the directions by Jeffery Rudell over at Craft Stylish where you can see all the directions. I followed them and made a wreath! My color scheme is very bright and I love it! I think it will work for Christmas and New Years and all winter long. I was tempted to hang it inside my apartment so I can look at while I'm home...but now I have something bright to see when I come home.

A couple tips:

1) I used scrap booking paper and come of it didn't hold up to well to the glue gun. So, heavier paper or painting tiles are good ideas. Though I was able to cover up the areas quite nicely with other circles.

2) I like to keep my crafts as Eco as possible. So, i used a bunch of scraps from my scrap booking paper for the circles. I was reluctant to buy a Styrofoam form... but I caved in and did. I bought a "weathered" green form at Michael's that was sturdier and less expensive than the white. And I plan to reuse it over and over again!


3) It got a little tricky to keep all the circles lined up to be the same length because they start to bend... I would just take breaks and wait for the circles to dry. Then I would bend all the circles so they would be flat! I think thicker paper would help with this too. Mine was thick enough that I could bend it pack into place and crease it so it wouldn't bend again.

Here is the finished product before I hung it on my door with red yarn!