How to Make Chandeliers From Recycled Materials

Select a round, mesh splatter guard or cooling rack to use as the hanging fixture for your chandelier. If you choose something with a wide rather than narrow mesh grid, it will be easier for you to hang the rest of your items from it.

Gather an assortment of small glass jars or china cups to use as tea light holders for your chandelier. The more you use, the more light your chandelier will provide and the more noticeable it will be.

Wrap fine-gauge wire around the neck of each jar or through the handle of each tea cup. Wrap the wire around several times, just loose enough to slip a hook or length of chain under it.

Experiment with different arrangements using your jars or tea cups to determine how low you would like each one to hang. Stagger the height of each jar or cup so that two adjacent items do not hang at the same height.

Cut pieces of beaded chain with wire cutters to twice the height at which you want each item to hang. Slip both ends of each piece of beaded chain under the wire wrapped around each jar or tea cup. For the glass jars, the two ends of the beaded chain should be positioned on opposite sides of the jar. If you are using tea cups, secure one end of the beaded chain to the wire around the handle and use quick-dry epoxy to affix the other end of the chain to the rim of the tea cup opposite the handle. Wrap the beaded chain around the wire and secure it in place with an extra piece of fine-gauge wire wrapped tightly around the end of the beaded chain.

Fill the jars or tea cups with about 1/2 inch of sand. Place a single tea light in the center of each jar or tea cup, nestling it into the sand.

Hang the jars or tea cups from the metal splatter guard or cooling rack by hanging small S hooks on the wire mesh in the desired positions. Slip the loops of beaded chain over the hook to suspend the jars or tea cups.

Slip four small S hooks through the mesh around the rim of the splatter guard or cooling rack, spaced equally around it.

Measure the height at which you want the chandelier to hang and cut two pieces of rope or chain to twice that length.

Slip the ends of each piece of rope or chain over the S hooks on opposite sides of the splatter guard or cooling rack and slip the portion of the rope or chain where the two pieces cross over a ceiling hook to hang the chandelier. Light the tea lights in each jar or tea cup to complete the look of your chandelier.