...crystal beaded light bulb cover tutorial

hello my dears!!

has it really been a whole two weeks since my last post?!?!

W-O-W

just like that

~ poof ~

oh, where do the days wander to...

do you suppose a tutorial would make up for it?

hhhmmm?!

here are the supplies you will need to make one

light cover

*10 crystazzi 6mm round crystal sets

(each set has 14 pieces)

in your choice of colors

mine were a mix of clear and ab

i purchased these at Michael's

*  7 crystazzi 4mm round crystal sets

(each set has 17 pieces)

in your choice of colors

* 1 spool of 24 gauge silver beading wire

* a pair of round nose jewelry pliers

* a pair of jewelry wire cutters

 

the light bulb i wanted to use had an iridescent finish on it

so for this crystal cover 

i used a mix of clear crystals and ab crystals (iridescent)

for some added whimsy.

here is my pattern

ready to begin?

step 1: cut a piece of wire about  24" in length

this will be what i will call, your "anchor wire"

quite simply,

it is the wire to which everything is attached to

step 2: cut 6, 16" individual pieces of wire

step 3: start your wire as i have below.

thread a small crystal bead on the anchor wire,

then take a piece of your 16" wire and bend that over your 24" anchor wire

thread one of your larger crystal beads

 over BOTH wires to secure it to your anchor wire

repeat this entire process for all your  16" lengths of wire

so it looks like this

step 4: from this point, treat each wire as it's own

and thread on 5 smaller crystal beads to each wire

like so:

step 5: now add 10 larger crystal beads to each wire

step 6: add 1 more small bead to the bottom of each wire

step 7: to finish each wire off,

use your round nose pliers to make a loop

 on each crystal strand end like this

you should end up with something that looks like this

step 8: now we are going to finish of the "anchor wire"

grasp each end of the anchor wire

and bring both pieces of wire together

step 9: thread a large crystal bead onto BOTH wires

(just like you did when you first started)

pull the wire close to the top like so

step 10: again, just like you did the previous wires,

add 5 small crystal  beads to each of the wires

and then 10 large crystal beads

and 1 small one at each end.

finish each end with your rounded nose pliers

step 11: your crystal strands are complete.

 now we are wiring all the strands together

 about half way down,

to start forming the light bulb cover

like in the photo below

  

pick one of the beaded strands to begin

and place a piece of  16" wire under it about half way down

now fold over the right side wire

then the left side

simply pull the two wires until they are secure on the crystal strand

and move on to the next crystal strand,

repeating the cross over wire steps

stringin',  stringin', stringin',

keep those fingers stringin'

my bad!

i just gave my dog a rawhide chip and was already singin' it!!

lol!!

when you are all finished

you should end up with something resembling a crystal wig!!

hahahahhh!!

but seriously ~

doesn't it look like one?!

i bet Cher would love one:)

at this point,

i took my desired light bulb and placed my crystal wig on it

and simply secured each wires end

onto the strand next to it to complete it

step 12: stringing the bottom

take a  14" piece of wire,

 and make a round loop on one of the ends

like i have done here

slip the wire into one of the crystal strands looped bottoms

and then thread a small bead on

then another crystal strand

then a small bead

repeat until all crystal strands are anchored to that wire

when you reach the end

that's it!

you need to leave one end free

to be able to wrap it around your light bulb base

it doesn't need to be really long,

about 2" or so is enough 

all that is left

is for you to put it on your light bulb

and

 ~ viola ~

your crystal beaded light bulb cover is complete!!

oohhhh

ppurrr-ty!!

 my chandie floor lamp

looks glamorous with it's new

iridescent crystal cover!

or should i say,

illuminated?!?!

and how about you, my dears?

are you inspired to give this a try for your pretty lamps?

i'd love for you to share how your turns out if you do:)

sharing this tutorial with:

brambleberry cottage's: time travel thursday

common ground's: vintage inspiration

french country cottage's: feathered nest friday

romantic home's: show and tell friday

the charm of home's: home sweet home

rooted in thyme's: simple sweet fridays

here's to elegant illumination!