I really like this chandelier from Anthropologie. Ever since I first saw it I’ve been trying to figure out a get rich quick scheme to justify buying it. Unfortunately nobody bought my, “I’m in a different country and my credit cards were stolen.” So I did what any blogger would do and attempted to make my own.


Paper lantern from IKEA + small white cupcake liners (flattened and twisted) + hot glue.

Is it as cool as the original? No. But is it worth the $888 I saved? You betcha. I think it would look pretty to do a series of these and hang them for a party.
Update: I should mention since I’ve already had questions about it, this was surprisingly not as time consuming as you might think. I was originally going to cut my own circles out of paper and accordion fold them and I’m so happy I didn’t. I took about 2 hours to prep the cupcake liners (about 400 of them – $1.50/100) and about 2 1/2 to glue them on. Split that up into two movie watching nights and you’re golden. Of course it wouldn’t take as long for a smaller lantern.
53 Comments »
this looks amazing! & i’d definitely adore attending a party with a bunch of these dangling from the ceiling in their attractive splendor.
Wow, this looks so much like the original! What are you going to do with the extra $850 you saved?!!
I think it looks fab! Can I ask, though, was it very time consuming? I love the look of these lanterns but they look like they take forever! Not sure I’ve got the patience!
This looks amazing! I love when people DIY anthro stuff!
I am SO impressed. It really does look great (both on and off) and, like you say, you saved a lot of money! Thanks for sharing with us!
Oooh, great job! I think a few of these lined up together would make a fantastic addition to a cozy party. Genius!
Love Anthro, love your DIY, and love Karen’s comment.
wow! this came out great – i love the antho lighting fixture as well, but also do not love the shock value it would bring to my bank acct. – how long did it take you to DIY this one?
this is so rad!!
p.s. “I’m in a different country and my credit cards were stolen.” -hahahaha
So great! It looks fabulous… as I was reading this on my reader I thought you had put the picture of the real thing up on your blog and I was looking for the DIYd one!
Really great.
AMAZING! I love it!
You are such the creative genius! And now you can tell people that came over, “I made that.”
Ooooh so pretty! And cheap! I always walk through anthropologie thinking I can make a cheaper version of whatever they’ve got but my laziness stops me from ever finding out. Thanks for the inspiration!
OMG you made this?! Looks great.
This is so awesome! And cupcake liners? So fitting for a party planner
That’s incredible! It’s practically identical to the super expensive one. Great job!
I love it, well done!!
So impressive! I’m dying to try it myself. Adding it to my DIY list.
You got it going on! I’ve had my eyes on that same lantern. Fab super fab!
I think it looks as cool as the original! Suck it, Anthropologie!
brilliant! i love it! i need to make some for myself now
I hope you got a few cupcakes out of the project, too.
You can hardly tell the difference between the “original” and your lamp. Beautiful!
Wow! It looks SO much like the original! Love it (and HATE the Anthro prices!).
Agreed with everyone else, that looks as good as the original! It’s really cool, and I am definitely bookmarking it for when I need another light somewhere. Where are you going to use it?
MELANIE! This is genius! Super creative and seriously, if the Anthropologie one is $898, I would say yours could easily be sold for $897…
DUDE. That is unreal.
Are you worried about the paper getting hot / catching for fire?
I think it turned out brilliant!
WHAT THE WHAT? you know, i bet you could tea-dye the paper liners if one were so inclined. that is majorly badass. i love it.
I LOVE when attempts to recreate inspiration turn out this great. Who needs those fancy places and empty wallets? Not you! This light is awesome.
This is beautiful – great job!
nice job!!! so close to the original!!
i’d never pay that much for something like that!!
This looks AMAZING-I think I like it even better than the original!
this is awesome. like everything else you do, so i’m not surprised.
Wow, you did such a great job; it looks amazing! My husband was looking at the computer screen while I was scrolling through your blog, and he was very impressed. His response? “Whoa, she made that?!”
I like yours better than the anthro one! great job!! love it!
Very nice. And for that price you could try all sorts of variations… glitter, watercolor embellishment, etc etc etc.
THAT is amazing. I thought i was looking at the Anthro one.
Nicely done! I love how this looks. I may attempt a small one
oh my goodness! I can’t believe you did this! i wanted to do one for my sis-in-law but with pink cupcake liners. Yours looks amazing and gives me the courage to go ahead and complete what i started! xo
Girl, I totally like yours better than anthro. No offense to their loveliness, but yours looks more fun!
SUCH a good idea
i like yours better! and i’m not just blass kissing (that’s blog ass kissing). seriously. you’ve motivated me to break out the glue gun…
[...] really against paper lanterns. Personally I think they are really tacky, but when I saw this paper lantern on the blog of you are my fave, my distate for tacky lanterns lessened a bit. Isn’t this [...]
LOVE this! what a great idea
even my boyfriend was smitten, thanks for the inspiration!
Thanks for updating about how much time – totally doable!
Can you post what the original IKEA paper lantern was and how do you plan to hang a few for a party? Is it an actual light fixture or something you can hang and simply plug in? Um, totally confused. Thanks so much! It looks awesome!
Wow, I really really love this! You could even make them in multiple colours with different cupcake liners
What a fantastic idea!! I love your blog..
jen
http://blankwhiteframes.blogspot.com
[...] be adding this to my long list of [...]
This is really freaking awesome.
thanks for posting this so we can all not spend 888 bucks we don’t have anyway. kudos!
How did you twist the liners after flattening them? I really like the botanical look of them.
Any way we could get details on how this was made? Would love to try it, but no clue where to start. lol
How did you make this! It is beautiful! Could we have directions please?!
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