???!

Ok. I have a confession. I don’t have any cutesy names for this project. In case you’re wondering what it is, it’s a battery operated chandelier I made for my backyard gazebo.

I had looked at various non-electric light fixtures for my fairly new backyard hangout (found it on Craigslist a couple of years ago. It took more than a year before we got around to putting it up.) I found some nice chandeliers in home improvement stores and online, but I was picturing an opportunity for another project. It just required the right inspiration.

While roaming one of my favorite hobby and craft stores, I found some “branches” with LED lights covered by plastic flowers. Hanging upside down, they looked like a chandelier to me. I bought 2 sets.

At first, it was just going to be simple. A couple of LED branches and some left-over chain from the small chandelier that hangs over my studio desk. The plan was to secure the brown branches to the antique bronze chain with brown duct tape. Out of all the crazy colors they now make, brown doesn’t seem to be one of them. I couldn’t find any, so I bought good old silver tape. All of a sudden the plan started becoming more complicated. Concealing my “mechanics” became the mission.

An upside down vase seemed like a cool idea. I just didn’t relish the idea of trying to create an opening in the bottom of one. My morbid mind was picturing broken glass and bloody fingers. Another trip to a craft store yielded a cylinder candle hurricane and some plastic bead flower sprays (to fill out the branches); a clearance chandelier lamp shade was robbed of its wire frame; the stash was raided for a stained glass coloring book and Gallery Glass paint.

I bought the LED branches early this summer, and I finished this project last night. With a little tinkering here and some painting there, it took me a little over 4 months to complete my garden chandelier. Now that my desk is clear, I have no excuses for not getting out a sewing machine and finishing some pants I started last year.

The Project Queen