Birdfeeder? Planter? OR, maybe a candle chandy tutorial

We've all seen them, those cast off glass shades in various shapes, colors and styles. Sitting dejected and rejected on the shelves at the local thrift, or in a box of junk at the yard sale or flea market. I always look at them, and think I should do something with them, but end up leaving them behind...Until last week.

This glass shade beckoned to me from 2 aisles away, the color, the shape..it has this romantic Victorian, art deco, glam Hollywood vibe happening and I immediately thought..Ooh! I can use this to make a bird feeder for  our  weed-bed  flowerbed next to the porch, and hey, I should post a tute so that more of these can be saved and given new life.

So, ready?

We're going to start by gathering our supplies.

1. hanging light shade  (mine was $2.92)
2. 24 gauge wire (Home depot) $5.50 ish
3. Jewels- I got mine at wally world, in the floral section For $3.00
4. Crystal beads- I used Darice brand from Joanns. $4 ish

Start by measuring out and cutting about 3 (or more/less depending on your shade) lengths of wire about 28" long.

Choose your crystal dangles and thread them on to the halfway point and bring the ends together so that the crystal is dangling.
Repeat for each wire strand and crystal dangle.

 From this point on we will be threading both ends through each bead. There are no real instructions for this part, just 1 "rule" repeat the beading order on each of your wire strands. On mine I used 4 additional beads.

Thread the wire through one of the holes in your shade, continue beading, I used about 15 or so. Repeat for the other wire strands. At this point, you are going to bring all of your strands together. this is where buying the jewels comes in double handy, the round beads that come with the dangles have very large eyes, 6 strand of wire was fed through with no trouble at all.

I used 6 of the larger beads for this part. To finish the beading off, twist the strands together, then bend a loop over and wrap the ends around the twisted strands right at the top of the top bead, making sure to not leave any stray ends poking out. Hang and enjoy!

 

Isn't it pretty? Of course once I finished it I got to thinking, it's really too pretty to put away for the winter, how could I use it inside? And I am now flip flopping between a plant hanger and a LED candle holder..

What do you all think?