Did you happen to catch my most recent guest post at The CSI Project? I was so, so very excited to see that the theme for the week I posted was outdoor spaces because it gave me a chance to finish a project that’s been floating around in my head for a while now: an outdoor chandelier made out of plastic stemware, inspired by a wine glass chandy from Napa Style that I love everything about except the $400 price tag. (And the wine glasses aren’t even included!) When I came across some brightly-colored plastic stemware in the luau section at Dollar Tree, I knew they would be perfect for making a patio-friendly version!
To make one, you will need:
- Plastic stemware
- Embroidery hoops
- Plastic rope
- Mardi gras beads
- Rhinestones
- Bungee cords
- Glue
First, let’s talk materials. The number of glasses you will need depends on the size of the glasses and how big you want the chandelier to be. (The people at Dollar Tree looked at me like I was crazy because I was arranging all of the glasses in circles on the floor!) I ended up with 6 hurricane glasses and 9 wine glasses (eight for the top tier and one that peeks out the bottom).
The size of embroidery hoops you’ll need will also depend on your glass selection. I used a 12 inch hoop and a 9 inch hoop.
First, take apart the embroidery hoops and set aside the outside portion; for this project, you’ll only need the centers. Wrap the circles with plastic rope and glue the ends down to secure them.
Arrange a set of glasses upside-down in a circle and set the rope-wrapped ring on them so that it touches all of the glasses. Glue the ring to the glasses at each point where they meet. (For extra stability, you can also flip the assembly over and add a dab of glue to each point where the rims of the glasses touch.) Make sure you use a really strong, weatherproof glue. I used Amazing Goop because it bonds quickly and sticks to just about everything.
Drape the glasses and embroidery hoop with mardi gras beads. Lots and lots of mardi gras beads! This is definitely a more-is-more scenario!
Now, call me old-fashioned, but it’s not a proper chandelier to me without some sparkle. With another round of more-is-more enthusiasm, glue a whole bunch of rhinestones to it as well. Repeat with the second set of glasses to make two tiers.
Stack the two tiers on top of one another and secure them together with glue. I also added my last wine glass tucked inside the bottom ring.
To hang the chandelier, I hooked four bungee cords around the embroidery hoop on the top tier.
If you want to make this functional as a light as well, you should be able to mount several solar path lights inside of it. I actually bought four lights to put in mine, but due to a crafting injury (an epic blister on the tip of my left index finger!) I’ve left figuring that out for another day.
Even without the lights, it looks amazing hanging in my back yard!
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