What do you get when you add a cheap girl with a need for tent lighting at a wedding and an almost endless supply of Hobby Lobby coupons??
You DO get a grapevine chandelier!! However did you KNOW?! I don't care what people say about you...I think you're one smart cookie!
Back when I was planning our wedding a year ago, I came across some images online where people used grapevine to make big balls and then wove in christmas lights to make these glowing orbs. I thought they would work to solve my problem with lighting AND they were the perfect kind of statement piece for my 'rustic chic' themed wedding. Lovely...and useful...and theme-related?!?!? SOLD! I was on a mission to get me some grapevine balls.
I gotta be honest, I was a little afraid to type 'grapevine balls' into Google...thinking there might be some sickos out there with a warped sense of humor that might involve the grapest band ever:
But apparently I'm the only one with her mind in the gutter because I got a ton of sites dedicated to exactly what I was looking for...balls made out of grapevine. I suppose this means that I can only point at myself when I say 'sickos'. Hmmm...
Like everything that involved my wedding, I was unpleasantly surprised to find that things cost significantly more than I think they should cost. Then, of course, my raging need to prove 'I can do that!' kicked in and two days before the wedding I decided to just make one myself! (last minute projects are SOOO not on the 'things you should be doing right before you wedding' list)
So, if YOU would like to make a big ol' grapevine ball for your wedding...or Christmas...or Bar Mitzva (I won't judge!), you'll need the following:
and to turn that ball into a chandelier, all it takes is:
First you have to pull your garland apart...but it will be rock hard...so fill a big tupperware bin or sink with water and let that sucker soak for a good long while...like DAYS if you can. It will only soften up marginally but enough that you can start pulling it apart into long strands that you can work with.
Make sure your exercise ball is blown up all the way and start wrapping the garland willy-nilly around the ball...securing the garland to itself with zip ties. Try to weave the garland like you would if you were making a basket with an over and under formation.
(Your ball won't be a perfect circle...but that sort of adds to the charm.
(The zip ties I used were clear/white but I already had them on hand for free.
If I were to do it again I would definitely go with black or brown zip ties)
Once you've wrapped all your garland around the ball and secured it with the zip ties (don't skimp on those zip ties!), pull the plug on your exercise ball and start deflating it from within your garland ball. It's good to have an extra set of hands for this part so that you aren't pushing only from one side and warping your new grapevine ball. However, even if you do warp it...just push it back into it's round shape and you should be good to go...it's pretty forgiving.
You could stop there and use your grapevine ball as is...but if you want to take it one step further and turn it into a chandelier, whip out your umbrella canopy lights.
I particularly liked the canopy lights for a couple reasons. First, the wire on these lights are brown instead of green or white like your average christmas lights...this means they blend in better with your grapevine. Second, they are one unit of 300 lights coming from one extended plug...so they look like a spider dangling from a web - this means that you don't have any unsightly connection peices to hide and you don't have to work one really long strand of lights in and out of your grapevine ball as you weave.
(See the spider dangling from the web?)
Altogether I spent a grand total of about 30 dollars, but that's because I already had the exercise ball and zip ties. If I'd had to buy those for this project it would've put me another 20 dollars out.
Exercise Ball = FREE
Grapevine Garland = originally $15 + 40% off coupon @ Hobby Lobby = $9 + tax
Zip Ties = FREE
Umbrella Canopy Lights = originally $30 + 40% coupon @ Hobby Lobby = $18 + tax
Total ~ $30
If I hadn't waited till the last moment, I would've done more than one of these...I would've filled the tent with them. However, having just one did make for quite a focal point.
So there you have it! You're very own, personal, one-of-a-kind grapevine chandelier. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed mine!
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