a spruced up lantern is my fave

November 7, 2011 // 53 Comments

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

 
  • On November 7, 2011 , Mallory said:

    this looks amazing! & i’d definitely adore attending a party with a bunch of these dangling from the ceiling in their attractive splendor.

  • On November 7, 2011 , Karen said:

    Wow, this looks so much like the original! What are you going to do with the extra $850 you saved?!!

  • On November 7, 2011 , Emily said:

    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!

  • On November 7, 2011 , sherri lynn @ life of a wife said:

    This looks amazing! I love when people DIY anthro stuff!

  • On November 7, 2011 , Will @ Bright.Bazaar said:

    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!

  • On November 7, 2011 , Nicole said:

    Oooh, great job! I think a few of these lined up together would make a fantastic addition to a cozy party. Genius!

  • On November 7, 2011 , courtney said:

    Love Anthro, love your DIY, and love Karen’s comment. :)

  • On November 7, 2011 , Jenn said:

    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?

  • On November 7, 2011 , rubi said:

    this is so rad!!

    p.s. “I’m in a different country and my credit cards were stolen.” -hahahaha

  • On November 7, 2011 , Jenni said:

    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.

  • On November 7, 2011 , Melanie Burk said:

    AMAZING! I love it!

  • On November 7, 2011 , Dancing Branflake said:

    You are such the creative genius! And now you can tell people that came over, “I made that.”

  • On November 7, 2011 , Kae said:

    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!

  • On November 7, 2011 , Molly @thewaffler said:

    OMG you made this?! Looks great.

  • On November 7, 2011 , Annie said:

    This is so awesome! And cupcake liners? So fitting for a party planner :)

  • On November 7, 2011 , Melissa said:

    That’s incredible! It’s practically identical to the super expensive one. Great job!

  • On November 7, 2011 , Sierra said:

    I love it, well done!!

  • On November 7, 2011 , Lisa Michelle said:

    So impressive! I’m dying to try it myself. Adding it to my DIY list.

  • On November 7, 2011 , Emily said:

    You got it going on! I’ve had my eyes on that same lantern. Fab super fab!

  • On November 7, 2011 , Diana said:

    I think it looks as cool as the original! Suck it, Anthropologie!

  • On November 7, 2011 , joanna kam said:

    brilliant! i love it! i need to make some for myself now

  • On November 7, 2011 , Laura said:

    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!

  • On November 7, 2011 , Charisse said:

    Wow! It looks SO much like the original! Love it (and HATE the Anthro prices!).

  • On November 7, 2011 , Miranda said:

    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?

  • On November 7, 2011 , Natalie said:

    MELANIE! This is genius! Super creative and seriously, if the Anthropologie one is $898, I would say yours could easily be sold for $897…

  • On November 7, 2011 , Hillary said:

    DUDE. That is unreal.

    Are you worried about the paper getting hot / catching for fire?

  • On November 7, 2011 , jennifer said:

    I think it turned out brilliant!

  • On November 7, 2011 , Kate Pruden said:

    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.

  • On November 7, 2011 , Becky said:

    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.

  • On November 7, 2011 , Sarah Rooftops said:

    This is beautiful – great job!

  • On November 7, 2011 , jen k said:

    nice job!!! so close to the original!!
    i’d never pay that much for something like that!!

  • On November 7, 2011 , Lena said:

    This looks AMAZING-I think I like it even better than the original!

  • On November 7, 2011 , angela hardison said:

    this is awesome. like everything else you do, so i’m not surprised.

  • On November 7, 2011 , Lauren at TwIn Style said:

    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?!”

  • On November 7, 2011 , heather said:

    I like yours better than the anthro one! great job!! love it!

  • On November 7, 2011 , Lashley said:

    Very nice. And for that price you could try all sorts of variations… glitter, watercolor embellishment, etc etc etc.

  • On November 7, 2011 , vanessa joie said:

    THAT is amazing. I thought i was looking at the Anthro one.

  • On November 8, 2011 , janis - pinecone camp said:

    Nicely done! I love how this looks. I may attempt a small one ;)

  • On November 8, 2011 , brooke said:

    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

  • On November 8, 2011 , Lucy said:

    Girl, I totally like yours better than anthro. No offense to their loveliness, but yours looks more fun!

  • On November 8, 2011 , Amanda Jane said:

    SUCH a good idea

  • On November 8, 2011 , kb said:

    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…

  • On November 8, 2011 , DIY Paper Lantern « Narichoi said:

    [...] 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 [...]

  • On November 8, 2011 , allison said:

    LOVE this! what a great idea :) even my boyfriend was smitten, thanks for the inspiration!

  • On November 9, 2011 , Emily said:

    Thanks for updating about how much time – totally doable!

  • On November 9, 2011 , Patty said:

    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!

  • On November 9, 2011 , fiona lynne said:

    Wow, I really really love this! You could even make them in multiple colours with different cupcake liners :)

  • On November 10, 2011 , Jen Smith said:

    What a fantastic idea!! I love your blog..

    jen
    http://blankwhiteframes.blogspot.com

  • On November 11, 2011 , wear away: week 4 | joannakam said:

    [...] be adding this to my long list of [...]

  • On December 7, 2011 , Shanita said:

    This is really freaking awesome. :) thanks for posting this so we can all not spend 888 bucks we don’t have anyway. kudos!

  • On December 20, 2011 , Surfer said:

    How did you twist the liners after flattening them? I really like the botanical look of them.

  • On January 4, 2012 , Ann said:

    Any way we could get details on how this was made? Would love to try it, but no clue where to start. lol

  • On January 5, 2012 , Malena said:

    How did you make this! It is beautiful! Could we have directions please?!

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