Hi all, it’s Joan from Scavenger Chic. Do you ever have one of those projects where nothing seems to go quite as planned? Where all those pictures inside your head don’t seem to quite translate to reality. Well this project was definitely that project. Every time I thought I had a great idea, I had to backtrack and come up with the next idea…well, you’ll see…
This project started out with an inexpensive thrift store chandelier. With all that wire structure above the lighting, I immediately started to see possibilities. I have no idea what was originally hanging from the chandelier, but I pictured crystals, feathers, bottle rings, the possibilities were endless. So for $6, he came home with me.
So many of my projects are black or white, but for this project I wanted color. Standing in the Home Depot eyeing all the beautiful colors, I saw this beautiful creamy, buttery yellow.
Yellow goes with everything, green, blue, black, white, orange, red…
What yellow does not go well with, is old yellowed book pages, it looked terrible.
My hubby looked at it like I did. “That really doesn’t look good, why don’t you just paint it black?”
Oh well, so much for color, black it is. My second choice.
My first choice for something to dangle from my chandelier was glass icicles. I had actually bought this chandelier back in September. I figured I’d just wait until Christmas time when icicles are in the stores.
I did find icicles. The beautiful icicles made of glass came 3 to a box and at $8 a box, that just wasn’t going to happen. The plastic icicles looked plastic and not in a good way.
My second choice was to use something laying around the house, something I could recycle and that is how I stumbled on book pages.
When my husband and I first got married we got a great set of old books for the sole purpose of filling up our empty bookshelves. We had no intention of ever reading the books and now that our shelves are full of books that we have actually read or want to read, those old books would make a great chandelier..or bookshelf, you can find that project here.
Anyway, for the chandelier, I would need 132 rolled book pages. Cut out a book page, put glue in one corner of the page, and in the opposite corner start rolling your page around a dowel. Slip the page off the dowel and repeat and repeat and repeat..
For a little extra pizzazz, I decided to paint the ends black. The ends didn’t have to be exact, because all of the book pages are slightly different lengths anyway. Here they are sitting on a board to dry.
A little mod podge was painted on the opposite end to give the paper a bit of strength where it will be tied to the chandelier.
The book pages were all rolled and now comes the big question…how to actually attach the rolls to the chandelier.
I liked the look of jute wrapped around the pages but the pages didn’t quite hang evenly.
A wire looped around the page and chandelier allowed the page to hang nicely but I had no particular desire to cut 132 loops and try to get them alike. I was bored after just 1.
Third choice (not second choice this time) was to use some sewing thread and a needle to sew them on.
I had a great idea for a band that would go around the top of the chandelier to hide the thread. I had an old rusty hoop that fit perfectly over top. I just needed to be able to fit all those metal pieces that were sticking out into the hoop.
But since this is my second choice chandelier, you gotta know that the hoop idea didn’t work at all. It didn’t have enough give to be able to stick into holes in one side without it popping out the other.
My second idea was to use a bit of leftover 4 inch oak strips. Since each of the pieces were cut separately, I wouldn’t have to worry about anything popping out.
The oak pieces were finished with a dark oak stain and varnish.
The center middle hole on the oak piece was for hanging on the chandelier and the two side holes were used to attach to it’s neighboring oak piece with a piece of looped wire.
Right now the chandelier is lighting up my guest bedroom, but my second choice would be…. I actually have no clue, so I’m thinking it can stay there a while.
see more of Joan’s projects below:
Repurposed Kitchen Drawer Shelf
Repurposed Door into a potting bench
Kitchen Hutch Makeover | Remake
chair back towel rack shelf
I am absolutely crazy about unique lighting! This one is the most clever I’ve seen in a while. I love the upcycle…the paper, the wood- it’s Unique!
Taking a break form studying and had to pop in to see how things are going here at MRL!
I like this project Joan!
…Hi Gail!
Thank you so much. I love upcycled lighting as well.. My most unique lamp probably has to be the one I made from an old rusty sewage pipe or it could be the pendant light from a gasoline can or the wall lights from pallet wood and bedsprings….
I am always amazed at the Upcycled projects people are able to produce! Great job!
Helen H
I am so impressed with your fortitude to think outside the box. I am in love with your chandelier. It looks like it should be in my husband’s man cave, one done in cabin type decor. To me the book pages look like feathers. It is just stunning and I will put it on my list of to do’s, for sure.
Thank you so much and good luck with your project.
Give me the idea of wrapping the pages around LED rope and using the rope to hang it. Maybe even flashing rope or colored or both or adjustable so one can choose what they want to that moment. Can be made to use solar power.
I actually had two of these chandeliers (in their original condition) in my house when we moved in. They have 3×6 glass hanging off them. The carpet installers knocked all the glass off the one in my foyer and it hung there bare for a year until I got a hand-me-down to replace the one in the dining room. I sprayed it with hammered silver spray paint to get rid of the brass and used the glass from the dining fixture to replace what the carpet guys broke. Looks awesome now, but I must say that I love how Joan’s turned out!
Thank you for finally telling me what was hanging off the chandelier. I found a second chandelier in the exact same condition as mine, no glass, now the mystery is solved.
Glad I could help! I like my foyer fixture now that it isn’t brass and has clear glass instead of smoked glass (I was actually thankful that the carpet guys broke that glass). I showed my daughter a picture of yours and she loves it! She is a major book nerd and wants to change the one I have. I’ll know who did it if my glass breaks again! Thanks for the inspiration – I would never have thought to use book pages for a chandelier.
I love your perseverance Joan! Not everything comes together as it does in our head, right?
Your book pages chandelier may not have been what you designed the first time (in your head) but the end result is very clever and fun!
gail
Thanks Gail, sometimes it’s fun finding out where the road will lead.
It looks so cool! And hey, you stuck with it til it worked! I may have given up for awhile. 🙂
such a fun and creative idea!