My Completed Eating Room DIY Air-Dry Clay Flower Chandelier

Right here’s how my clay flower chandelier turned out…

The very first thing I needed to do was bend the metallic rods that got here with the sputnik chandelier. So I used my 25-pound kettlebell, and holding one finish of every rod with a pliers in my proper hand, I grabbed the opposite finish of the rod with my left hand and gently bent it across the kettlebell to kind a mild curve.

That is what they appeared like with the curve…

I made a decision to screw the entire metallic rods into the sunshine earlier than I hung the sunshine to verify I had the form proper. This made putting in the sunshine a bit of more difficult, however it was a lot simpler to screw all of those in with out having to face on a ladder since there are over 130 of them and this course of alone took over an hour.

As soon as I had the form of the chandelier proper, I moved on to creating the air-dry clay flowers. I wanted a fast and simple solution to make 135 flowers that had been all the identical dimension. I may have used a scale to weigh the clay to verify all of them used the identical quantity of clay, however I discovered a a lot simpler and sooner manner to do that. I had this set of oval metallic clay cutters that I purchased from Michael’s.

So I used the oval that was the third from the smallest…

To make the flowers, I used my favourite air-dry clay. I initially tried utilizing Craft Sensible air dry clay from Michael’s, however that clay is just too moist, too sticky, and doesn’t maintain its form earlier than it dries. So I needed to order this clay on-line and anticipate it to reach, however it was price it. I discover that this Inventive Paperclay has the right consistency. It’s delicate and simple to work with and form, and when you’ve created one thing with it, it holds its form. It additionally dries very exhausting and sturdy and it’s very straightforward to sand to a clean end.

I rolled clay out between two pencils utilizing my acrylic clay curler…

After which I minimize as many ovals out of that clay as I may…

After which I used two ovals per flower. This assured that every flower used the identical quantity of clay and got here out the identical dimension.

To make every flower, I began by rolling the clay into this clean egg form.

After which utilizing a small pair of scissors, I minimize about 1/3 of the best way by way of the clay reducing it in half.

After which I minimize every half in half once more leaving me with 4 sections…

Then I dipped my fingers into water to which I had added some Daybreak dishwashing liquid (I discover this works higher than plain water), after which used my fingers to press every part right into a petal form. Every petal was fairly tough at this level…

Then I used a small palette knife, dipped it within the water, and used it to clean out every petal on prime and across the edges.

It was nonetheless a bit of tough at this level, however I wasn’t anxious about that as a result of, as I discussed above, this clay, as soon as it’s totally dry, sands to a fantastic, clean end with 220-grit sandpaper.

For the ultimate contact, I used a tiny quantity of clay, rolled it right into a ball…

And pressed that into the middle of the flower.

As I pressed that into the middle of the flower, the strain additionally created a little bit of a flat backside on the flower in order that it will sit upright by itself. After which I made certain the petals had been curved like I wished them and positioned it apart to dry.

The flowers took about 24 hours to totally dry, after which I sanded every one with 220-grit sandpaper to take away any tough areas. Then I painted every one with this Artist’s Loft Iridescent Medium. I didn’t paint them or prime them first. I didn’t add this medium to any paint. I simply used this medium all by itself.

And that is what they appeared like once they had been dry…

Earlier than attaching them to the chandelier, I needed to drill a gap within the backside of every flower. I taped off my drill bit in order that I’d understand how deep to drill every gap with out by chance drilling right through the flower.

To connect the flowers to the chandelier, I initially tried sizzling glue. That was a multitude. It dried manner too quick for me to get the flower totally on the metallic rod earlier than the glue dried, after which a part of it squished out and dried and would have been unimaginable to utterly clear off to provide a clear end. It was a multitude. So I ended up utilizing this tremendous glue, and it labored completely.

It took me about an hour to connect the entire flowers, however right here’s the ultimate end result.

I’m so enthusiastic about how this mild turned out. I feel I like this one higher than my walk-in closet chandelier, and that one took for much longer to make!

Mine isn’t fairly as fancy because the inspiration chandelier, however mine additionally price below $200 for my DIY model versus the $2800 value of the inspiration chandelier.

In all, it took three packages of the air dry clay to make all 135 flowers, however I solely used about 1/3 of the third package deal. So I’ve some left over that I can use for an additional venture. And there will likely be one other venture as a result of I’ve discovered that I completely love utilizing this medium to create enjoyable tasks.