Nursery Chandelier {& a tutorial}

I'm finally posting our nursery chandelier! I was trying to decide whether to show H's whole room all at once or not, but I'll go ahead and share this little part because I'm so proud of it!

Now, most of you creative bloggers won't find this that exciting, but I am really proud! ha!

I wanted do to a chandelier in her room and found a few online that were way over budget {like $300!!} - plus, who would pay for that?! So, I set out to make my own and made it a goal to stay under $35! Not only did I make my own, but, I came in $1 over budget ~ $36!! :)

What do you think?!  The feel of the room I am going for is very simple and serene.  I could have added more color pops or different trim, but I like how simple and girly it ended up.

So here's how I did it and a little tutorial ~ although it was pretty simple and I just made it up as I went; so you could probably figure it out!
1. I searched many places, but ended up finding a nasty, beat up light fixture at the Habitat Restore Shop in my hometown.  This picture does not even do it justice how nasty it was. I had partly cleaned it before taking the pic! Cleaning was easy - only needed water and a towel.  {cost: $5.30}  Then spray paint.  Husband took care of this for me since smelling aerosol is frowned upon during pregnancy ~ and because he offered! It took 2 coats to get it beaming white! {cost: $6.00 at Lowe's}

2. Next you need to find lamp shades.  Again, I'm always making things hard on myself! I looked everywhere except for right under my nose! I needed small "clip on lamp shades" that were rounded so that I could cover it with fabric easily.  They had lots to choose from that had more of a design to it, but if you want to cover, you need the plain ones. {cost: $8.00 total for 6 at Lowe's...but we had a gift card. they are regularly $5.64 each}

3. Find fabric you want to cover your shades with.  Make a template by rolling your lampshade over paper {I used tissue paper so it would easily fold} and then matching it up and making sure you have a little extra fabric for the top and bottom to fold over.  {cost: free}

4. I got lucky with my fabric! :) I actually used one side of my crib bed skirt to cover the shades! Most crib skirts will come with 4 sides.  So unless you have one of the cribs where it will show, you don't need the 4th side.  I also knew my lavender shade was hard to match up with other fabric's so I was excited to use it.  I was nervous at first to look too matchy-matchy, but I'm ok with it in the end. :) My crib skirt is also reversible, so I actually have an entire other piece of fabric to make something else out of...maybe. :) Below are the pictures of the steps I took. {cost: free b/c it was a shower gift!}

5.  Once you've traced your template on to your fabric and cut, it's time to apply! I used Liquid-Stitch glue because it's easy to work with and I'd used it already to make my wedding table runners and family room curtains and I liked how easy and well it worked.  I started by applying a small amount on to the lamp shade edges and slowly applied the fabric little by little making sure there were no bubbles and it was staying on track.  *Make sure you start and end with the seam of the lamp.  Then you just fold over the extra fabric from the top and bottom.  It only takes about 5 minutes to dry and it dries clear! {cost: I already had this, but it's usually about $4 at Hobby Lobby.}

fold over your end seam so it will look better

6.  Add trim.  I had it hanging for a while without trim, but thought I needed to add some just to give it the 'nursery' feel. *spoiler alert: my nursery isn't very baby-themed, but you will see when I share the entire room* I bought a few different samples, but ended up going with the rosettes because I liked the 'boutique' and girly feel it gave me.  To add, I just measured the trim, cut, and applied to the bottom only with my Liquid-Stitch glue and let set. {cost: $13.42 for 1yd. 3/4in. at Hobby Lobby - a bit pricey!}

7. Add small chandelier light bulbs. {cost: $2.99 at Wal-Mart}
8.  Get your hot husband to hang! :)

I thought about adding crystals around the bottom but I have a tendency to go a little too far so I decided to quit while I was ahead!

Hope you like!!! It actually gives off more light than the standard dome fixture that was in the room before!
I'm adding this to: