A for Arts n Crafts #3

My next arts n crafts project took me more than a week to complete because the first couple of steps were rather long and tedious.


These steps required patience and precision because if I was careless, I would be wasting valuable time and material. But once those steps were completed, the remaining steps went rather quickly. And the more I looked at my creation taking its form, the more eager I became, to finish it.

The project I am talking about is a faux capiz shell chandelier that would replace an old lighting in my bedroom. Looking up at the ceiling every day and night made me want to do something about that old ceiling light. So, once again, I looked through the internet for inspiration and found the one I wanted, not exactly the same but the idea was the same nonetheless.

I also found on youtube on how to make it ~ the cheapest way. I looked into my own inventory items and realised that I only needed to buy a couple of things. And so, off I went-a-shopping..

What you need to have:
~ a flexible metal coil (1 mm diameter)
~ a metal cutter
~ a pair of pliers
~ masking tape
~ a coloured ribbon

~ a pair of scissors
~ a lighter

~ thread (same colour as ribbon)
~ 2 needles
~ 3 boxes of wax paper (30cm x 5m)
~ a box of parchment paper
~ a non-steam iron
~ a ruler
~ a pencil
~ a pen knife
~ a compass

Once I got all the items I needed, I started by making the frame for my 3-tier chandelier. My idea was to keep the existing ceiling light as the main light source and to hang the chandelier just so it would fit nicely onto it.

So, to make the frame, I measured the circumference of the existing light and used it as a marker for my chandelier's top tier. To create the second and third tiers, I decreased the diameters by 2 inches accordingly i.e. if tier 1: ~ 7 inches, then tier 2: ~ 5 inches and tier 3: ~ 3 inches. (diameter = circumference/3.14).

After I got the measurements needed for all the three tiers, I cut out the flexible metal coil accordingly. To make complete circles for each of the tiers, I joined the two ends together and secured them with masking tape.


For my own personal touch, I opted to cover the metal coils with coloured ribbon instead of leaving them bare or coating them with paint like the other tutorials did. I also preferred to sew instead of gluing the ribbon to the metal coils because I thought by doing this, I would not have to worry about the chandelier falling apart later on.


Also, in order to secure the chandelier onto the existing light, I made 3 hooks from the remaining metal coil by cutting the lengths according to the distance between the chandelier and the existing light and shaping them with a pair of pliers. I made sure of the distance because I did not want to burn my chandelier, especially after all the hard work I would have put into it.

I was not bothered if the frame was out of shape because I was pretty sure that once the chandelier is completed, it would take its shape accordingly. Besides, who would actually bother to look closely once it is hung up at the ceiling? Also, this is after all, a hand-made project, so I liked it looking as it did.

The next step was rather mundane, because all I needed to do was to iron the sheets of wax papers together ~ how hard could this be? Not hard, but this step required precision. I had to make sure that the wax papers actually stuck together or else the corners would peel away once I cut them into smaller shapes, and my chandelier would look like pom-poms instead.

Because I did not want to waste any wax papers, I made some calculations before hand to make sure that there were enough wax papers to cover the whole chandelier and provisioned for wastage if I were to make mistakes while cutting the sheets.

So, in order to create a single sheet of faux capiz shell, I needed to cut out 3 sheets of wax papers of equal lengths (30 cm x 30 cm) and carefully ironed them all together, between two sheets of parchment papers. Because I needed 15 sheets of faux capiz shells, I ended up ironing 13.5 m of wax papers for the whole chandelier, and while the iron was still hot, I ironed the remainder, just for back-up.

While waiting for the sheets to cool down, I made a couple of templates which consisted of a 5 cm square and a 5 cm diameter circle and marked 2 needle points on each template ~ 1 cm from the top and 1 cm from the bottom for the stringing process.

When all of the sheets have cooled down, I then cut them out into squares and circles, based on the total number of pieces required for each tier. Since I did not have a proper paper cutter, it made this a rather long and tedious process because I had to cut each sheet with a pair of scissors for a cleaner cut than using a pen knife.

To string the pieces together, I used a single piece of thread and 2 needles instead of one because it was much more efficient and made the job easier to complete.

I strung 5 pieces of faux capiz shells per string, alternating between the squares and circles, ending with a diamond at the bottom of each string. Once each string was ready, I tied them to the frame. This was the fun part of the project because I got to see the chandelier took its shape and slowly but surely, it all came together. 

Once the chandelier was ready, it was time for the much-awaited part - hanging it to its designated place. And when the light switch was turned on, it transformed my bedroom totally into a new haven.

I never felt more satisfied because all those time and effort spent were totally worthwhile.

After the success of my first faux capiz shells chandelier for my bedroom, I decided to do the same for my guestroom.

So, following the same steps as previous project, I went on with my next project. This time, it was much easier to complete. Also, I only needed to make minor adjustments and the design is simpler.

And the outcome is yet another satisfied customer ~ a fresh new lighting for my guestroom.