Jazzing up a chandelier 101

Chandeliers can be so plain don't you think - or have I just been reading too much Fancy Nancy?
Inspired by one I saw on Anna Spiro's blog, I decided to jazz up the chandelier in the children's room. I'd love to show you the one that was the inspiration, but for the life of me I can't find it, and I refuse to spend any more time looking for it.
Anna Spiro had put mini chandelier shades onto a chandelier, each covered in a different fabric. Hardly original, but it looked fabo, as anything touched by her usually does.
I managed to find some blank shades on Ebay and had them shipped over from Pennsylvania in America.

By the time they landed at my door they amounted to $8 each, which I think is pretty good.
That brown paper peels off and you stick on your own fabric. I used a glue gun for the first time. I used it to glue down the ends of the fabric. Let me tell you, me and a glue gun could change the world. Loved it. I gave myself third degree burns, but it was worth it.
If you are familiar with my birthday cake making from earlier in the year, you may be expecting some sort of disaster to have unfolded with this Martha-business, but it all went smoothly. Almost.
At one stage I cut the pom pom trim to go around the bottom, moved over to the glue gun to put the glue on, then when I came back to the table I was working at I couldn't remember which piece of trim was the right length. I had to just guess, and I'm afraid I guessed wrong, so there you go. One of the shades has a bit of patchy trim.
Also, I meant to alternate two patterns, but as I realised, you can't alternate two patterns on a five-arm chandelier. Sometimes I think I'm lucky to be living independently.
Anyway, it turned out pretty well I think. My photos didn't unfortunately. My little red box brownie finally threw in the towel for good. After I located my husband's camera the sun had gone down, so the light wasn't crash hot. Our ceilings are so high that, even with balancing on the bed and stretching up my arms, I still couldn't photograph the chandelier very well. This was my first attempt, snapped as I fell to the ground.

This is the final.

And again.

And once more, this time in the dark!

You see my thought here is that lots of bad photos may collectively equal one good one?


I have been busier than a one-armed juggler lately. Tonight I was at Woolies at 8pm, then I had to come home wash my hair (no small feat) and make two Rapunzel plaits from yellow wool (nothing to do with washing my hair). Tomorrow I have a 9.30am meeting where I must endeavour to look 10 years younger than I really am, then I have to race off to work, race off to kindy, whip into home and pick up our two smelly guinea pigs and take them to school by 3pm for show & tell. After school I have to buy two birthday presents for weekend parties and return our 500 library books before we're fined, find a Rapunzel dress, make dinner and get the homework done. It's a lot ot fit into 12 hours.
I thought all our mod cons were supposed to ease the burden!
Yesterday in the post I was delighted to find a pressie from my girlfriend Heidi. It was a leopard print Snuggie. It's positively luxurious and drags on the ground when I walk around. I have to stop watching its train actually or I'm going to walk into something. I feel like an African Queen. I'm afraid there'll be no photo of it though.
Now, buoyed by my latest craft attempt, I'm hatching an even more ambitious project!