Everything You Need To Know To Make A Flush Mount Beaded Chandelier

Ahh, beaded chandeliers. They’re so gorgeous, aren’t they? The perfect amount of style, and somehow both elegant and understated at the same time.

I have always been in love with them, but I’ve never been in love with the price point. They cost hundreds if not thousands of dollars, and I just can’t get myself to shell out for something like that!

So I decided to start making my own!

I set out to make my first beaded chandelier about a year or so ago now for over our dining room table. It was intense – took me about 2 weeks to string the beads and assemble it, and it was complete with a lighting kit, metal rods, and hardwired into our dining room ceiling.

If you don’t know what I’m talking about, check out the full tutorial here!

It might be my all time favorite DIY so far! But after that test of my patience, I needed a little break from chandeliers for a minute.

Fast forward to now, and I was ready to go again! This time though, I was keeping things simple.

I had just updated my oldest daughter’s room into a space she could share with her sister. Check it out here!

And I made it so their closet could fit all of their clothes.

One thing just wasn’t so great though… the light fixture in there.

I didn’t want to spend hundreds to replace it with a new one, so I decided to make a wood bead chandelier to go around the existing light fixture.

No lighting kit or hardwiring required!

Sounds great, right? So let’s get to the details so you can make one too!

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW TO MAKE A FLUSH MOUNT BEADED CHANDELIER

STEP 1: PURCHASE YOUR SUPPLIES

Keep in mind that you don’t have to follow my same patterns if you don’t want to! You can have fun with this and make it your own in order for it to fit the space you have in mind!

If you do want to create the exact same chandelier, I’m sharing all the information you need to know in order to recreate it!

Here’s the breakdown of what you need…

BEADS

• 240 8mm wooden beads (1 pack)
• 280 10mm wooden beads (1 pack)
• 280 12mm wooden beads (1 pack)
• 280 14mm wooden beads (2 packs)
• 280 16mm wooden beads (2 packs)
• 120 20mm wooden beads (1 pack)

OTHER MATERIALS

• Sewing needle with a large eye
• 2 14″ embroidery hoops
• 2 4″ embroidery hoops
• Cotton twine
• Scissors
• Wood glue
• Clamps
• 2 ceiling hooks

STEP 2: SORT & STRING YOUR BEADS

I like to sort all my beads into resealable zip lock bags so I can come and go as I need to without worrying if the beads will spill or disappear from little hands getting into them.

Once I sorted my beads, it was time to get to work! I grabbed one of my smaller sewing needles with a large eye (because I knew I would be working with 8mm beads) and my cotton twine.

I always thread the twine through my needle but don’t tie it – just leave some slack!

As you string your beads, it’ll stay put.

Once you have all your beads for your strand on your twine, pull the needle out and leave approximately 4-5″ of extra twine on each side to make it easier to attach them to your hoops later.

PATTERN

Because I was making up my chandelier as I went, I didn’t have a pattern to follow or a plan for my strands. So I played around with a few different ideas and settled on this pattern…

• 3 8mm beads
• 5 10mm beads
• 5 12mm beads
• 5 14mm beads
• 5 16mm beads
• 3 20mm beads
• 2 16mm beads
• 2 14mm beads
• 2 12mm beads
• 2 10mm beads
• 3 8mm beads

I made 40 total strands following this exact pattern for this chandelier.

Before I’m ready to put my strands on my hoops, I tie them on hangers to keep them from spilling or tangling!

Once your strands are tied, it’s time to create your structure.

STEP 3: SUSPEND YOUR 4″ HOOP IN THE MIDDLE OF YOUR 14″ HOOP

This next step is easier than it sounds.

Grab one of your 14″ hoops and one of your 4″ hoops, and separate them both into 2 pieces. Use the pieces without the metal clasps for this step.

Using your cotton twine, you’re going to suspend your 4″ hoop in the middle of your 14″ hoop!

Cut 4 12-14″ pieces of twine (to give you some room to work). Tie one end of each to your 4″ hoop so they’re all evenly spaced.

Then take the other end of each piece of twine and tie it to the 14″ hoop so that each string is 7.5″ long from hoop to hoop.

As long as your strings are all 7.5″ long from hoop to hoop, your chandelier will look level and the strings of beads will look even! Don’t worry if it looks a little off before the beads are on – they’ll help weigh it down!

STEP 4: ATTACH YOUR BEADS TO YOUR HOOPS

Now that you have your structure, it’s time to tie the beads to the hoops!

Tie your strands so that the side with the smaller beads is attached to the 14″ hoop and the side with the larger beads is attached to the 4″ hoop to create a “J” shape. Your largest beads should hang at the bottom of your swoop.

Keep in mind where you tied your 4″ hoop to your 14″ hoop – you’ll want to tie 10 strands of beads in each quarter section so it’s all nice and even.

Once all your strands are tied to your hoops, it’s time to move on to the next step!

STEP 5: ADD YOUR EXTRA HOOPS ON EITHER SIDE OF YOUR INITIAL HOOP

Make sure your strands are spaced how you want them – this is your last chance to move them around at all!

Then, separate your extra embroidery hoops and grab 2 more 14″ pieces and 2 more 4″ pieces.

Remove the metal clasps if needed (I just removed mine using some pliers).

With your open hoop (the one with the metal clasp you removed), fit it on the inside of the 14″ hoop you tied the strands on.

Mark where the overlap is, and use a saw to cut off the extra. I just used my miter saw, but any hand held saw will do here.

Now, cut through the extra closed 14″ hoop to allow it to expand as well, and fit it around the outside of your hoop with the strands on it.

Wood glue those hoops into place so they sandwich your hoop with the strands, and clamp them while they dry.

Repeat the same thing with your 4″ hoop!

STEP 6: CUT OFF THE EXTRA STRING

Once the glue is dry, simply cut off all the extra string with some scissors if needed to help clean it up!

STEP 7: HANG IT UP!

Now, it’s time to hang it!

We grabbed 2 ceiling hooks for this, measured out where they needed to go, and anchored them into the ceiling!

Then we hung our chandelier around the existing light fixture, and ta-da! It totally transformed the look and feel of the closet!

So what do you think? Will you ever try to create your own beaded chandelier? Let me know in the comments!