Dining Room "Sugared Fruits" Chandelier

From year to year, I like to decorate our house in different ways, mostly re-using the stash of supplies I already have, but sometimes adding in a small purchase of new themed items.  Case in point:  our dining room.  In previous years, I had simply done a nice centerpiece and called it done.  But in 2009, I decided to add a little more to the mix, and play up this pretty room.

I chose a "Sugared Fruits" theme.   I used floral picks, a package of fruits that looked like they were coated in sugar, cinnamon scented pinecones (some of which I had spray painted gold), green and gold ball ornaments, some green and gold sheer wire-edge ribbon, and gold candles.  All of the supplies came from Michaels, purchased on sale bit by bit over the previous two or three years. I really like the sugared fruits florals, which were in shades of purple, pink, gold and green.  Our dining room is painted a very soft sage green, with wide stripes added in clear polyurethane to give a very subtle texture effect.  So the colors of the fruits and ribbons really blended nicely and gave the room a rich, soft, pretty feel.

To decorate the chandelier, I wrapped garland and added artificial floral items and ribbon.  I used two inexpensive artificial greenery garlands which Michael's usually has for sale for about $2 each during the holiday season.  I made sure to carefully spread the wire branches out as fluffy as possible to make them as full as I could.  I started up at the ceiling and twisted the end of the garland at the top of the chandelier chain.  Then I wound the garland down around the chain, then around the top and bottom tiers of the chandelier.  When I ran out of the first garland, I added a second and continued.  I think I ended up wrapping both the top and the bottom tiers of the chandelier twice.

Next, I cut lengths of wire-edged ribbon into about 18" lengths.  I made a loop at one end and wired it closed, and cut a "v" tail shape in the other end.  (It kind of ended up looking something like a worm or a tadpole or a sperm.  Eeeewwww!) Then I shaped the ribbon by hand into waves, and then tucked a few of these into the top and bottom tiers of the garland.

Lastly, I just laid the floral picks, sugared fruits, and pine cones into the garland.  If it looked like they were going to fall out, I shaped the garland branches to secure them.  I didn't glue anything, and didn't wire anything, because I wanted to be able to dismantle it at the end of the season and re-use the elements possibly in a different way in future years.  It worked out well for the most part - though throughout the month of December, we would sometimes find fallen pinecones on the table, on the floor, or once, inside the candle centerpiece.  ;-)

Overall, I was very pleased with the effect.  What do you think?  Do you decorate your chandelier for Christmas?

Stay tuned for the rest of the room's decorations...