Christmas chandelier

Finally, a DIY project on the blog!  You were beginning to think I just wrote that in the "about" section as a filler.  All this traveling has left little time to do any DIY.  I feel like I spend most of my time collecting supplies around town and storing them for when I have time.  I have so many little projects waiting to be done.  Luckily this one was done within time for Christmas.  
Okay, so the horrid "boob" lighting.  Yikes!  I'm not sure if many of you have had the opportunity to live in such amazing apartments that include this lighting, so here is a picture of what they look like.  You see it's one boob not boobs.  Well, unless you hit the jackpot like us and have multiple "boob" lights in one room.  We have a full set of boobs plus one in this tiny apartment all within viewing of the living room.   Scary, right?

I searched to the end of the DIY internets and Pinterest for a chandelier project (because you know I am more of a copy cat kind of DIY'er), but couldn't find anything except the Faux Capiz shell chandelier tutorial made of wax paper to mimic the one sold at West Elm.  I contemplated it, but I think if I tried this it would actually look like I hung wax paper from the ceiling.  There is also a lot of time involved in this project, and I didn't want to be disappointed at the end of the project.  Maybe when I'm super bored you'll see me attempt it. Remember when I finally found my throw pillows that I had been looking for?  Well, the inspiration for this light fixture came from my favorite store here, Depot.  They are a lower priced Pottery Barn, and I want everything they carry!  They love hanging things from the ceiling, and their displays are super elaborate.  I love just walking around and oohing and ahing at everything.  My friend and I do it practically every Wednesday, since the shop is located so close to the market.

I found these gems there, and they were even on reduziert (our favorite German word to say), so I decided to buy them.  

The wine bottles were a bit too heavy, and I didn't want to make any holes in the ceiling for anchoring.  So, for this month I decided to add Christmas bulbs to make it look more like a chandelier.  What do you think?  

Here is a brief tutorial: What you'll need:  Branch circle found at Depot (Find anything that works for the size you need) Ornaments Ribbon  Twine Quilter's clear plastic White fabric Mod Podge (the answer to every craft project) Staple gun Hole puncher 
**Step 1** Remove your "boob" light and see what you're working with.  My light fixture has three places to attach my new structure.  I marked these on the branch circle and wrapped twine around these areas leaving a loop in the middle to attach it to the light fixture.  Along with tying the twine to the branch circle, I used the staple gun to secure it.  Make sure you allow enough space for the air to circulate and the heat to dissipate.

**Step 2** Outline the inside of the branch circle on your quilter's plastic and cut it out.  Iron your white fabric.  Then use your mod podge to adhere the fabric to one side. 

After it's dry, make holes in it using a hole puncher.  I made the holes so they would be where I attached my twine on the branch circle, and used twine to attach it to the circle.

Okay, so this is what I was left with, since the wine bottles were too heavy.  I was disappointed with my DIY project at this point, and was wishing I had done the faux capiz chandelier.  Pretty Booor-to-the-ing, right?

Insert Depot to the rescue with their creative displays here.  

**Step 3** Now take your ribbon and use the staple gun to attach it, and tie on your bulbs and whatever else you find to add to the mix.  The ribbon makes it look a lot fuller.  Depot has some to-die-for ribbon that is white and says Merry Christmas on it, so I used that along with a glitter ribbon that shimmers and twine.

Remember how it looked before.

And now (ignore dog with cone-of-shame who still wants her picture taken).

I'd say it's a success.  At least for the month of December.  Do you have any other ideas for what I can hang from it for the other 11 months of the year?