Embellished Chandelier - Part 2 - Tips and Hints

 

Last blog I told how I embellished an old chandelier with jewelry findings and crystals.  This time I am sharing some hints and lessons learned I experienced while doing this project.  Hopefully my readers can benefit from my problems and mistakes!  We learn from each other, right?  I know I appreciate all the blogs I have read which have helped me and saved me a lot of time!

But before I get into the hints I wanted to say that I appreciate my followers and hope you are able to continue following now that Blogger (or Google, should I say?) has taken away the Feedburner email subscription function.  I haven't found a replacement yet.  I hope my readers can continue to find me.  Please let me know if you have suggestions or problems (I don't know yet how to solve this but first I just need to know if it really is a problem...)

Hints for working with a vintage or used chandelier:

• Test your fixture immediately before you do any work on it.  This prevents a lot of wasted time.  If you don’t have a tester, you can just hold both wires to the snap connectors on a 9V battery (separate the two wires and strip off a section of insulation first).
• Old wires can be brittle - Even though this chandelier had never been used, the two copper wires were sealed together inside a hard, clear coating. I finally got a small section of wires to separate and used my pliers to pull the two apart but they seemed as if they would break off at any moment.  
• Brittle wires are hard to connect just by twisting!  When I tried to twist them with the wire of a micro plug (to plug it in to my dollhouse system) it didn’t make a connection.  Took some time troubleshooting but eventually I had to strip off the heat shrink tube and solder them all together in order for it to work.
• Too-short wires – beware that some vintage chandeliers are sold “as-is” and many times sellers don’t check that they work.  If you find one that is not in the original package, ask whether it works.  Also – make sure wires haven’t been cut so short that there is not enough wire to work with.

So how do you hang it??
I have hung a few chandeliers now (6 to be exact; 7 if you count the one I had to replace).  I learn something every time.  But here are my tips for mounting through the floor above where the chandelier will go:

• Drill a hole in the ceiling for pulling the wires through to the floor above.  This means your flooring in the room above must be removable (I could probably write a blog just on this).  This also means you must have previously run tape wire across the floor to the center of the room to attach to the chandelier.
  
  
  
• If using a ceiling medallion, you can either glue it to the ceiling now over the hole (line up its hole with the one in the ceiling).   OR glue the chandelier canopy to it, let that dry then glue the medallion to the ceiling after connecting the wires.  Here is a photo of how I held my ceiling medallion in place while the glue dried (using bamboo skewers and a wood circle held against the medallion). I carved two small grooves in the wood circle with an X-Acto knife so the skewer end would sort of rest there and "catch". Strips of scrap basswood would also work.
  

  

  Bamboo skewers and wood circle to hold medallion while gluing
  

  
  

  

  Toothpicks to help align the medallion with the hole (before bracing)
  

  
  
• Use a canopy (dome shaped piece with a ring that holds the chandelier to the ceiling) and a chain to permanently hold the chandelier.  Don't just let it hang by the wires alone.  It's not  so much the weight but this: if your wires are tight with no slack then they take the force when the chandelier is bumped, instead of the chain and canopy.  If they break, you will throw the chandelier away because they will be too short to connect again.  I have had first hand experience with this (link to my first ever blog post).
  
• Make your connection.  Pull the wires through the medallion and ceiling hole and tape them down to the floor to make the connections.  Follow the instructions in your lighting kit and attach the chandelier wires to the tape or round wire of your house using grommets or solder.  I solder my connections because I have had several connections that have come apart.  But soldering is optional.
  
  
  
• Now glue the canopy to the medallion (or the ceiling if not using a medallion).  Hopefully it is light weight enough you can just hold it a little while until it sets.  Or use removable painter’s tape to hold it in place overnight.  I like Crafter’s Pick Ultimate glue because it is thick and dries fast.  But some like to use solvent glues for metal – such as E6000.
  
  
  

I didn't go into the details on running tape wire or making the grommet connections or soldering because there are so many kits and books that describe this.  Recently I have also started putting micro plugs on the chandelier then soldering the female end of the plug to the tape run (but this is for another blog… ).  I don't consider myself an expert in hanging chandeliers but here are some links to two people who have much more experience.   Both Carl and Tina are very familiar with the Cir-Kit products and have several videos on using their chandelier adapters which can be used on the ceiling (as opposed to through the floor above, as I have done). I use Carl's products for my lighting - power supplies, etc.  He has an AWESOME book that is so helpful and includes information about LEDs and converting your dollhouse from the old 12 volt transformer to DC power (which I have now done - maybe a future blog post??).  I love Tina's videos because, even though she has been building dollhouses for 25 years, she gives a very honest review of products from the perspective of a "newbie" (or "noob" as my grandson would say) including the problems she has encountered with those products.  You learn more from these people than from the Cir-Kit website because they actually show you the components in the bag and what each little piece is used for.

Carl Sahlberg of CR2S - Creative Reproductions 2 Scale

My favorite book on miniature lighting from CR2S

Tina Kaminska Dickenson

In the near future I will have to hang some fixtures on the ceiling of the top floor.  I will let you know how that goes!!

Thanks to my readers for your interest.  Remember to let me know if you are having problems with the loss of Feedburner.   Thinking of what to do next...any suggestions?

Tutorial: Embellishing a Miniature Chandelier

I feel it is very hard to find miniature light fixtures that aren’t dated-looking or that look like they were from a big-box hobby store (common).  I don’t like most of those battery fixtures – the bases are very thick and the bulbs very squared off, they don’t look like candle flames when on sconces and chandeliers.  They have their place – like maybe in a room box, where there are only a few fixtures but who would want to turn on many of these every time you display your dollhouse?  This is why I have so many blog posts for making sconces, lamps, etc.

I like traditional fixtures but want a modern spin on it.  I found one that I really like at Lighting Bug.  I purchased it but it was kind of expensive (absolutely worth it when you consider the artistry!).  But when I decided I needed another one, I wanted to try to replicate it using a less expensive chandelier to start with. Here is the one I purchased (left) and the one I embellished (right).

Here is how I did it. Supplies and tools are in bold and also listed with cost at the end.

1. Find moderate cost working chandelier with graceful curved arms, simple lines and narrow sections of post that you could fit a brass flower around (with a center hole).  Mine was a vintage Clare Bell Brass 6 arm Williamsburg-type with large turned balls on the post.

   

   Vintage Chandelier purchased for $75 with shipping
   

   
   
2. Find brass petal findings with long, slim petals, about 1-1/2 inches tip to tip, 6 petals. I found these searching "layered flower finding" on Etsy.
   
   
   
3. If you can only find them riveted together (as mine were), they can be easily separated by drilling through the rivet.  Use a drill bit a little larger than rivet hole.  If possible, use a drill press for straight vertical drilling (or your Dremel with steady hands and pliers to hold finding so it doesn’t move when drilling).  Notice in the photo that these were kind of rusty.  It will buff out with steel wool.
4. I used two findings, they were the same size but one was flatter and the other one was taller, with the petals pushed together sort of like a crown (photo below, the one being drilled).  The crown shaped one I used near the top of the chandelier – to mimic the one I was trying to replicate.
5. Cut through the center ring between two petals to open the ring (I just used my wire cutter).  Use pliers to open it up wide enough so it will fit around the chandelier.  I just found some spots where the center post of the chandelier was very narrow and fit the open ring over two of those spots (but don’t put it on yet).
6. Drilling holes for crystals - I used my Dremel and wire drill bit (#64?)
   
   
   
• Its easiest to turn the flower upside down and drill through the back of the petal.  This way the drill bit didn’t ‘walk’ as much as when I tried to drill it from the top
• My findings were kind of thick brass and it took a while for the wire bit to get through.  After about 7 holes I had to re-charge my Dremel.  Let it do the work and don’t press down very much.  It may take a while.
• Any scratches from the drill bit ‘walking’ can be removed in later steps with sandpaper and steel wool
7. Once drilled, sand lightly with 400 grit sandpaper over the holes to remove snags.  Then smooth all the scratches with 0000 (‘four ought’) steel wool.  This should make the brass very shiny, smooth and golden.  If the underneath side of the holes will show, then sand and steel wool there too.  I found the steel wool was able to remove some rusty looking spots that must have been there for years (these were vintage findings).   In the photo below, the petal near the knife tip was buffed with steel wool while the petal right below it still has some scratches from the sandpaper.
   
   
   
8. Preserve that golden brass glow by spraying the finding front and back with a clear acrylic spray.  I used an old product “Triple Thick Glaze”.
9. The crystals – I used some tiny clear ‘delica’ beads (cylindrical, very tiny) and larger 2mm (hard to find) and 3 mm Swarovski crystal beads.  I used some thin brass non-tarnishing beading wire and cut two pieces (since it was so thin).  I threaded one delica over both pieces of wire then brought the four ends up together with the bead at the bottom of the fold of wire.  Then I threaded the bigger 2 or 3 mm bead on the four wires.  Then another 1 or 2 delicas – threading all 4 wires through them.  I put all 4 wires through the BACK of one of the drilled holes in the finding, folded it around the petal and twisted the wire about 3 or 4 times.  The steps are shown in order in the first photo below.
   
   
   
   
   
   
10. Clip off the excess wire with flush cut pliers.  Put all the crystals on the finding before trying to put the finding on the chandelier.  Repeat for the other finding (if you are also doing two).  
11. When ready to put the findings on the chandelier, use pliers to open it up and slip it onto the stem of the chandelier.  Try not to scratch it (but it may be inevitable).  I did not glue my findings – they are just wobbling around.
    
    
    
12. I also put crystals hanging from each of the 6 arms using the same process.  I used the bigger (3mm) crystals with the delicas on the arms.
13. Even though my chandelier was brand new, still in the box and never been connected there were some rusty spots in the brass I noticed AFTER I did the work of embellishing.  So I brushed over them with clear nail polish (actually used some old Fimo glaze but it is the same thing).  I didn’t want these to continue rusting or make the fixture look patchy after a few years though it still might.  Time will tell.

Costs:
Vintage Clare-Bell Chandelier - $74.50 (with shipping, Ebay)
2mm Swarovski crystals - $5 (with shipping, Ebay; from China)
3mm Swarovski crystals - $5 (with shipping, Ebay; from China)
Crystal Delica beads - $8 (with shipping, Etsy store “Seaofbeadstx”)
Tarnish resistant brass beading wire, 34 gauge (Artistic Wire brand) - $6
Vintage flower findings -  $8 (with shipping, Etsy “BossJewelrySupply”)
(total = $106)

Hope this inspires you to embellish a chandelier.  Next time - some hints on working with vintage or used chandelier and hints on hanging a chandelier.

Broken Dollhouse Chandelier

The chandelier in my dollhouse nursery has not been lighting for a long time.  Trying to trouble shoot the copper tape wiring I found out that there were 2 problems.

Problem #1 - No Juice:  After connecting the transformer and using the two prong tester, there is no ‘juice’ to the copper tape strip that the chandelier is hooked to.  Tracing back I had to figure out how the electricity was getting up to the 3^rd floor where the chandelier is attached (through the ceiling of the 2^nd floor room, I had wired the chandelier into a tape strip on the floor of the 3^rd level).  Finally I found my old wiring diagram and followed the tape down.  This is how you troubleshoot a wiring problem.  First – hopefully you created a diagram of your wiring when you first installed it.  Second, use the two prong electrical tester and backtrack toward the area where lights are working, pushing the tester into the wallpaper where you think there is a copper tape strip.  Problem #1 was a bad connection between tape runs on 2^nd and 3^rd level.  I’ve taken wiring classes from several people including Tim Kraft (Illuminations by Mr. K), John Fowler (of The Little Dollhouse Company in Canada) and they are a wealth of info.  Tim is a proponent of soldering wherever possible and now I see why.  Those brads I installed years ago must not have survived the years and the move /months of storage by the moving company.   I soldered that connection and now I have JUICE!.  I hope I won’t have a problem there again.  Ooh, if I could just go back and solder everywhere I have had to troubleshoot my wiring!!!

Problem #2 - After all this troubleshooting, the fixture still doesn't work -- wires must be broken (from me hitting it so many times while rearranging items on shelves, etc!  Finally I had to remove it and take it apart.  So sad!  It was so cute and irreplaceable (sad face).

Lessons Learned in Dollhouse Wiring:

1.   Make a wiring diagram.  Try to record distances of “L” runs from doorways, windows, heights of sconce runs, etc.

2.   If using copper tape, keep the height consistent throughout the dollhouse (Tim Kraft uses a jig that holds a pencil that you use to draw around the entire room so all tape is applied at that height).

3.   Solder all the connections (where you would have used brads – once you learn it’s very easy).  This prevents them popping out down the line.

4.   Cover all the solder joints (and bradded joints if you refuse to solder) with a piece of clear Scotch tape.  This protects the joint from paint, wallpaper, humidity.  Also prevents paint from getting into the brad joint and shorting it out.

5.   Attach door jamb covers with wood strips and only a FEW dots of glue everywhere you have continued the wire tape around a doorway.  I rely on these easily removable door jambs to test the copper tape because it is the only place you can see the tape.  Also testing it there doesn’t poke holes in your wallpaper.

6.   Make wood flooring removable.  I have made many tape joints on the dollhouse floor to skip past a door or past a previous failed joint to an outlet, etc.  Some of my flooring is all one piece and I can slide it in and out.  The baseboards are glued to the wall only so the floor is kept in place by the baseboards.

7.   Install chandeliers LAST (after all wallpaper, window & door trim, cornice and baseboard molding, flooring). I broke this chandelier by hitting it with my hand every time I put my hand into the room.  Eventually the tiny wires just broke.