I was supposed to finish staining the railings on the porch this weekend but instead I ran some errands and put together this easy DIY outdoor chandelier for the screen porch!
I had no idea exactly what I was going to do, just that I wanted to use grapevine spheres and tiny white lights!
Because I love the soft glow of those tiny white lights.*
Here’s what I used :
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*Grapevine Balls in 2 different sizes- HERE —> mine are 6 to 7″ and 4″
*2 sets of 50 count white lights with brown wires- HERE
*Garden twine (I had this on hand)
*Birch branch (I had this on hand-but in case you can’t find one in the yard! HERE are some)
*Burlap ribbon (I had this on hand)
I used about 25 lights inside each large ball & 15 or so lights inside each medium ball…
I tried this several ways, wrapped around outside…no.
With the lights sticking out of the ball…looked a bit like a porcupine so that was a no.
Finally I settled on threading the lights inside the balls…
and tying them in place with a bit of garden twine…
I started with a big ball then did two medium then a large and ended with a medium…
I balanced the birch branch on a couple of chairs while I worked with the placement. Because I didn’t want any of the wiring to show, the balls had to touch and be fairly stationary.
Here’s what I ended up with…see the cord in the photo below? It’s really not noticeable unless you look at it from this angle!
To hold up the little chandy, I simply screwed 2 white eye hooks into the ceiling and threaded the burlap ribbon through them, tying it off under the birch branch…
I have the lights connected to a white outdoor extension cord-the plugs of the two cords are hidden between one loop of burlap ribbon. The extension cord goes down the side of the porch and is hidden between the screen and the railing.
You can only see the wires running from one ball to the other when you’re up close and personal!
This was really easy, just a little time consuming if you’re compulsive…I kid you not I carefully placed and tied off almost all of those 100 tiny lights! But it was worth it ’cause those tiny lights give off such a nice glow at night~
The porch project is coming together…today I’m finishing staining the porch rails and I hope to be done with the whole thing at some point this week!
***UPDATE***
HERE’S another idea to use these fun lighted spheres!
Have the best of Mondays my friends
I’d love to connect on Pinterest! HERE
That is just too cute! What a great idea!
Julia, thanks sweetie! You would have built something much more complex-you’re so good with DIY!!! xoxo
I LOVE this project, beautiful!
Gabrielle, thank you bunches!!! xo
i love that you have no fear in pressing forward with a project, just because you have an idea in your head but no plan. it came together beautifully!
i hope the humidity in the air won’t impede the staining process. we had our carpets cleaned on Saturday, and some of them still aren’t completely dry. that was SOME weather system we had go through, wasn’t it! TV said we had 8″ overnight Saturday night!!
Jenn, most of the time when I start with elements that I love, I can figure out something to do with them! It’s soooo humid here! xo And soggy!
So ultra-romantic!!!!!!!!
thanks J…xo
This is so pretty! I’m working on our back porch right now, so I’ll have to keep this idea in mind. Thanks for sharing!
Erin, it’s a perfect time to be working on the porch-it’ll be ready just in time for summer! xo
This came out so great! I really love how it lights up the night! I am heading over to FB to like your new page!
Allyson, thank you soooo much for your sweet comment and for liking the new fb page!!! xo
Great idea!!
thank you Julie! xo
I really love this idea Robin. You are so creative! Perfect touch for the outdoors.
How cool is this!! What a great idea!
thanks Niki! xo
Robin that chandelier is phenomenal!Love it! Love your site too.
Too cute, love them!!!
Oh, gosh, that is gorgeous! I would love to do a chandelier like that, if only I had a porch to use it on. 🙂
Sheila you are so sweet xo Thank you xoxo
I love burlap, grapevine, twinkle lights, etc…..what a neat idea. New follower Christine from Little Brags
Cute during the day, but GREAT at night! Looks lovely!
Lindsey, thanks so much honey! xo
So super cool, Robin! I adore this idea and you are right, that couldn’t be easier to create!
Featured you in a few places this weekend. 🙂 Thanks for linking up to Party Junk 189!
Donna, thank you friend~so appreciated xo
These are so sweet. I have been trying to put something together for a few years. I have looked at them many times so now I have a new inspiration! ty Dianntha
Dianntha, I’m so glad you’re inspired! I bet if you put them together, yours will be even better! pls let me know if you do one, I’d love to see yours! xo
turned out really beautiful. i would love to try this. it occurs to me that if the cord (what little you can see of it) really bothers a person, they could spiral wrap some natural twine around it and it would really blend in and look like it is supposed to be there.
I love this! It’s absolutely gorgeous. I tried stringing lights around the outside of some grapevine balls at Christmas and it looked awful!! I never even thought about putting them inside. I’m thinking about painting the grapevine white to match my porch decor a little better. Do you think that would work??
Beth, the white would TOTALLY work!!! And using white cord on the lights!!! How wonderful! That would look snowy wonderful for a Christmas display as well, I might just try it! Let me know when you do yours, I’d so love to see it my friend! ox
Beautiful ! I love your blog. One question: how do you get electricity to your lights?
Mannon, I have a porch light that we converted to a plug. The fixture is right next to the mason jar light so we plug it right in, but you could easily run an extension cord down a window ledge or in a corner to the plug on the floor…(You can see the convertor in my post!) xo
I would think you could easily use battery-operated tea lights in the bottoms of them or even solar tea lights if you do not have a plug nearby. Then you can change the lights inside with the holidays – orange or black for halloween and red or green for Christmas. Just a thought…
Cindy, that’s a GREAT idea!!! If you try it I’d love to see a photo and maybe add it to the post (giving you the credit of course!) xo
Hi Robin,
I just commented on the mason jar lights and I love this one just as much. Both are such cute ideas and came out so beautifully. They are right up my alley as far as appeal. I hope I can make at least one of them as well as you did. Thanks for sharing your creativity. ~ Pam
Pam, let me know if you make one of the lights, I’d love to see it! xo
Thank you for posting this. I love these! Definitely going to try and make them!
Lynne, I’d love to see a picture of yours if you do make it!! xo
I’m looking for mason jar lights. as shown in your Pinterest site. Can’t find instructions.
Jan, I’m sorry you’re having trouble w/ finding the post…here is the link:
http://www.allthingsheartandhome.com/2013/07/15/diy-mason-jar-light/
Have a wonderful day my friend xo
these are so simple but totally awesome!! you’re right about that soft glow in the evening… and nice patio set up by the way! you’re good!!!
Jill, thank you so much friend! By the way…you have the gift of encouragement 🙂 xo
i love this. great idea
Thanks so much Christine! Have a great day ox
I absolutely LOVE this amazing idea! I can’t wait to try this myself. Thank you for sharing Robin!