Drinking Wine & Killing Time

You might remember my post about the lovely chandelier that inhabited my dining room and my post about the chandelier I wish were hanging in my dining room. Well,worry no more! This past weekend that monstrosity from the 70's was replaced!

But first, a few before pictures of what came with our house.

In case anyone needs to borrow a bong, I have 5.

Please take notice of the blue paperclip holding the canopy plate in place. Very classy.

It isn't a classy chandelier without paint splashes everywhere.

I would have loved to buy a Chandelini (created by Touch Design Studios), but I don't think $1,995 was in our budget for a chandelier. Instead we opted to make our own.

I originally found this tutorial for a mason jar chandelier over at kara paslay designs and figured it shouldn't be that difficult to tweak her instructions to work for my wine glass idea.
 
We started brainstorming on the best way to execute our plan, with structural integrity being #1 on the list and aesthetics being #2. Let me tell you, we were almost divorced by the time we finished this little project AND we haven't even gotten married yet!

But here she is, our pride and joy, in all her glory!

Tah-Dah!!

Close up.

View from the bottom.

With the lights dimmed down.

Cost Breakdown

keyless sockets = $8 (Lowe's)

lamp wire = $3 (Home Depot)

lamp nipples =  $2 (Lowe's)

offset crossbar = $2 (Home Depot)

hex nuts = $2 (Home Depot)

machine screws = $2 (Home Depot)

fishing line = $3 (Wal-Mart)

candelabra light bulbs = $6

wire connectors = $2 (Home Depot)

glass drill bit = $17 (Lowe's)

pack of 12 wine glasses = $8 (w/ coupon at Bed Bath & Beyond)

12 glasses of varying sizes = $7 (Goodwill)

stemless wine glasses = $7 (Homegoods)

ceiling medallion = $20 (Home Depot)

steel ring = $2 (Home Depot)

crimp beads = $9 (Jo-Ann's)

crimp tool = $10 (w/ coupon at Jo-Ann's)

TOTAL COST = $102

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PARTY, PARTY, PARTY

The full how-to can be found after the jump (sorry in advance for the lack of pictures).

Dining Room Server Redo

After a long and rather un-fulfilling search for a reasonably priced server/buffet/credenza/sideboard/whatever, I finally found one that fit the bill at the Salvation Army. She wasn't in bad shape, but she wasn't necessarily going to win any beauty pageants like this --- especially with those grimy hinges and hardware.

Given that this was my first ever paint job, I clearly had no clue what I was doing. Please disregard all streak marks :)

Now we have a place to store all our fine china!

Cost Breakdown:

Server = $60

Hardware = $23

2 cans of primer = $10

3 cans of spray paint = $9

Total Cost = $102

If I may say so, I think it's much better than the $250 particleboard hot-mess sideboard I was eyeballing at Ikea. :)