“Blinging Up” My New Chandelier

A couple of weeks before Christmas I was walking through Goodwill and was about ready to walk out.  Out of the corner of my eye I saw something big and shiny sitting on a table.  I glanced over and low-and-behold I saw a beautiful light fixture.  Price?  $19.95!!!!  I can’t believe that I almost walked away because I was afraid my hubby would kill me.  I stood there and debated, then I picked it up.  Oh good heaven’s… that thing was HEAVY.  I was a GOOD fixture and in perfect condition – not even any dust on it!!!  The thing I didn’t really like were the metal shades – which I knew could be removed.  I was beginning to see the potential.  Well, at that point I said, “I don’t care if my hubby rolls his eyes when he sees this or not, I’m gonna get it!”  I’m telling you, that thing was so heavy that I could hardly carry it to the register and then out to my car.  I DID get a slight eye-roll from my hubby, but he also knew we wanted a new light for our dining room, PLUS even he knew it was a GOOD fixture.  This is what it looked like when I brought it in the house… see how it shines?
 
I just “casually” mentioned to my hubby that maaaaybe we could install it sometime in the near future… hopefully before Christmas???  You know what?  He said, “Well let’s do it!”  Well knock me over with a feather!!  I got the tools together before he could change his mind and quick as a wink we had that baby installed (with a “dimmer” to boot!!!!!). 
Why is it that I don’t see things are crooked/upside down/etc. until I post pictures??  I also forgot to take a “before” picture of the light.  Trust me, it was a very basic CHEAP builder’s quality fixture.
Now this was quite an improvement, and I was already loving it, but of course – never to be satisfied – I felt it could be improved upon.  I seen so many different people post on how they improved a chandelier.  One in particular that inspired me to try was Diane (http://inmyownstyle.com/2010/11/dining-room-chandelier-make-over.html).  I thought... could I???… should I???…  “bling” it up????  But of course I should!!  Besides, with it being Christmas time I figured I might be able to find some crystal items to use.  I was right.  Not only did I find crystal items, but they were half price!!!  WAHOO!!!!  The beaded garland was a little larger than I wanted, but it would do.  I thought that maybe these crystals might look “cheap”, but they really don’t.  Everyone that has seen it thinks it is beautiful, so I guess price doesn’t really matter.
I didn’t want to do anything that would be “permanent” or damage the light in any way, plus I didn't want the beads to slide, so I wanted to use some hooks to hang the crystals.  The light itself had perfect areas to hang hooks.  I found some brass ornament hangers at Hobby Lobby which I knew would work perfect (1/2 price!!!).  I cut them and made new hooks out of them.
They work so well that they blend right in with the light.
I figured out how much of a drop I wanted between hooks and started hanging them and then hot-glued the two ends together.  I did this several times in different areas.  I also made some drop crystals to hang down. 
The top portion had to have a little different hook, so I worked with them a little more and made a perfect little hook for that as well.

The only place I had to use glue (hot glue) was on the crystals that dropped from the top portion down to the “candle light-bulb” area (or whatever you call it).

One final thing and I would be done… the center drop crystal.  I had a beautiful REAL crystal that my boss had given to me a couple of years ago.  I made that into another drop that would hang below everything else.  Oh my gosh… this thing was looking AWESOME!!!!
I had a bit of a hard time getting good pictures, because the crystal garland wants to reflect so much, but I think you’ll get the general idea.  Between the cost of the light, and all the crystals, I have created a beautiful Chandelier for about $35!!!!

One more time… here’s the “before”
And here’s the “after”.

I’m really happy with it!!!  The nice thing is that if I want to change it, get tired of it, or even want to clean it, all I have to do is unhook everything. 

So what do you think?  Do you like the “Before” or the “After” better?????  I really WOULD LOVE to hear what you think!!!

I think I'm going to find a few parties to link up to...

Saturday Is Crafty Day! (Along for the Ride)  /  Saturday Nite Special (Funky Junk)  /  Flaunt It Friday (Chic on Shoestring Decorating)  /  FAB Friday (Frugal & Fabulous Design)  /  Feature Yourself Friday (Fingerprints on the Frig)  /  Frugalicious Friday (Finding Fabulous)  /  Motivate Me Monday (Keeping it Simple)  /  Making the World Cuter Monday  /  The DIY Show Off  /  Metamorphosis Monday (Between Naps on the Porch)  /  Making Monday Marvelous (Creating Really Awesome Free Things)  /  Made By You Monday (Skip to my Lou)   /  Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays (Costal Charm)  /  Mad Skills