In light of my chandelier DIY blowing up on Instagram and TikTok (pun not intended), I came to the conclusion that a written tutorial was in order!
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Allow me to give a little back story of how this idea came about. I feel like it’s important for everyone to know I didn’t actually come up with the design of this chandelier.
It all came to me when I was hunting for a statement piece to hang in my newly revamped dining room.
I came across a website that held all the light fixtures of my dreams. One particular chandelier caught my attention but cost $1200!!!
Being on a tight budget, I knew there was no way I could afford to display it in my home. Rather than give up and move on, I began to look closely at how it was structured.
From there, I gathered all of my intel to put a plan together. I was able to come up with all the materials I would need to make the chandelier myself for under $30!!
I cut back on the cost by thrifting the drum shade, bought the cheapest cord kit I could find, cut my wood slats out of scrap wood, manipulated a quilting hoop, and then hot glued it all together!
Because of the high demand for a proper tutorial, I decided to make a second chandelier and document the entire process.
I did things a little
You could easily substitute and tweak this “recipe” to suit your needs. There are so many different ways, shapes, and forms this chandelier could be made. Get creative and have fun with the process!!
INSTRUCTIONS
Be advised, measurements are based on the size of your materials. The idea of this tutorial is to give you an idea.
I will help you figure out how to get the perfect length for your slats below. There is probably a basic math formula that could be applied but my brain is challenged in that area… so you’ll have to deal with my way! : )
Material List:
- Drum shade. Mine is 17” diameter and 12” height
- Slats. I decided to use 5 gallon paint stir sticks for the sake of ease. Mine ended up being 14.25″H x .75″W
- Quilting Hoop. I chose a 23” hoop because it was the largest I could get my hands on
- Hot glue. Feel free to use any bonding agent you desire
- Cord Kit. Make sure it can be attached to your drum shade
- A platform to elevate your shade During the construction process. I used a 1.5” thick wood board
The first step is to take the inner, connected section of the quilting hoop and divide it in half using a table saw.


I fully expected it to be a difficult feat but it was, surprisingly, doable!
Next, you’ll want to figure out how long to make your slats.

Since my shade is 17” and hoop 23”, I calculated that I’ll need around 3” of spacing between the hoop and shade. It ended up being a little over…3.25” to be exact.

I went ahead and made myself 4 spacers to keep my shade visually centered in case it got bumped out of place.

Once centered, measure the distance from the top of the shade to the outside of the hoop. This showed I would need a max of 14.25” in length for my slat.

To be sure this length would work, I cut myself a slat to test on each quarter of the diameter.
For my slats, I chose to use

The nice thing about these particular stir sticks is that they came in a wrapped pack of three. I kept them in a wrapper while cutting for optimal efficiency!


Now that you have your slats cut and ready to go, its time for the assembly! This part took me under an hour to accomplish the first time but I ran into a minor issue the second time around.
I’ll explain more toward the end of this post. A valuable lesson I learned is that it’s smart to “dry-fit” your slats before gluing. The purpose of this is to avoid running into odd gaps toward the end of th

I wanted to stabilize the shade before starting so I glued a slat onto each quarter. I figured it would allow me to easily flip the shade to do the other half. This step can be altered.
I don’t believe there is ever a wrong way to do something as long as it gets done. Do what makes sense to you. I’ve had followers use various methods of this step with the same outcome!
Next, I gently flipped the shade to add the other hoop and more slats (as shown).

You keep up this cycle until finish!

Yes, I am showing all the steps for visual learners such as myself!



At this point, I realized I didn’t have enough room to continue the pattern. Had a mini panic attack. Walked away for a few hours. Ate a nice meal. Came back to face it! Breaks and food always
Plan B involved pulling up some of the slats and slightly shifting apart to fill in more space. It wasn’t a fun repair but it ended up doing the trick!
Once finished, add your cord kit and admire your work!

Moral of the story: If you can’t buy, DIY!!!
Hope this chandelier tutorial was helpful and inspiring. I am open to editing any wording that doesn
You could also visit my Instagram highlight labeled “Chandelier” for additional footage.
Leave me feedback in the comments!
17 Comments
I’m curious to see how and how much light comes through the wood slits. It’s so beautiful, wondering if it would be the right lighting for my space.
February 25, 2021 at 2:04 pmWith this particular light, I could only use one bulb so it really doesn’t put off a whole lot of light. It’s more for ambience since I have 4 other light sources in my dining room. Hope that helps! Light shines through the slats but it’s not a very bright light source.
February 27, 2021 at 12:00 amI wish you would sell a kit for this. I don’t have the woodwork tools to cut the right size, but I could definitely buy the wood ring and sticks to put it together myself.
March 2, 2021 at 1:57 pmI have had requests to make the kit for people. I should seriously consider it😅
March 24, 2021 at 11:42 amI love this so much!! Gathering supplies this weekend to make the same fixture. Thank you for the beautiful inspiration! 🙂
March 6, 2021 at 4:04 pmSo beautiful! Definitely pinning this for a future project.
March 19, 2021 at 5:47 pmThank you so so much!!
March 24, 2021 at 11:39 amThank you so much! Very flattered!
May 19, 2022 at 1:08 pmIs it better to use a lampshade with the same diameter top and bottom or can you use one that is a little off 15” on top., 17” on bottom of lamp shade and height is 10 inches? If my measurements make any sense at all?
April 1, 2022 at 3:57 amI understand what you are asking! It is better to use the same diameter too and bottom but you could use a shade slightly bigger on the bottom than top. Just know the slats will give a different shape to your light.
August 23, 2022 at 12:28 pmDid you sand the stir stick edges after cutting in half? From the pictures the edges look really straight.
August 19, 2022 at 3:24 pmI did actually! I didn’t spend a lot of time on each one though. Just a quick rub down did the trick!
August 23, 2022 at 12:22 pmThis light is sooo cute! I love it so much! I am wanting to do some home projects when the kids go back to school and I would love to recreate this. I am planning on doing some kitchen cabinet refinishing this month so maybe after this. Thanks so much for sharing!!!
August 22, 2022 at 5:07 pmThis would be such a great project to do with kids!!
August 23, 2022 at 12:20 pmHi. I’m so in love with this. I just bought myself a 28” shade from ikea that was on clearance for 30.00. It was normally 44.00. I’m having to get 32” rings for it, and now I’m ready! My question is on cutting the paint sticks. In the picture, It looks like when you cut the sticks off at the end, you also cut them vertically, meaning cutting in half. Is that right? And thank you for doing this. It’s just great. I will send a picture when I am done. Couldn’t find the wooden rings that big, so I’m doing gold rings.
August 23, 2022 at 12:26 amYay!! So glad you love it enough to make one for yourself.
August 23, 2022 at 12:20 pmYes, the paint sticks were cut vertically in half. I used a table saw to do so. If it makes you uncomfortable to make cuts like that so close to the blade, know that I have have many followers leave the paint sticks whole and their lights turned out beautiful regardless!