DIY Tutorial: Creative Yarn Chandelier
I’m thrilled to share this super creative and useful “Yarn Chandelier Tutorial” from Nicolle of Libby Lane Press with you today!
This project utilizes yarn, a glue mixture, and balloons – and is so versatile and budget-friendly. You can use these cool spheres for all sorts of parties and occassions… from birthday celebrations to baby showers, bridal showers, and beyond! Nicolle created these particular yarn spheres for this super cute Holiday Whimsical Woodland Wonderland shoot:
Read on for complete DIY details from Nicolle…
YARN CHANDELIER TUTORIAL
by Nicolle from Libby Lane Press
Materials:
- Yarn
- School Glue
- Corn Starch
- Vaseline
- Dowel rod/pole for hanging
- Scissors
- Balloons
- Bowl for Mixing
Step by Step Instructions:
1. Blow up Balloons:
I wanted various sized yarn chandeliers so I chose to incorporate a large punching balloon as my main focal point and added standard balloons for the surrounding areas. I only blew the standard balloons to approximately half capacity to keep as true of a circular shape as possible.
2. Assemble work space:
Place a long pole or dowel rod between two chairs to create a DIY ‘drying station’. I highly recommend placing a plastic trash bag or disposable plastic tablecloth underneath where you will hang the balloons. I initially began this project outdoors, however wind became a factor and I was forced to relocate (not easy).
3. Attach balloons to rod:
Tie yarn around the stem of the balloon and hang from the dowel rod. Be sure that the balloon is suspended and not touching the surrounding balloons.
4. Petroleum Jelly:
Cover each balloon in a light coating of petroleum jelly. This ensures that the yarn will not stick to the balloon once it is dried and popped.
5. Mixing & Dipping:
Mix the school glue (about half of the bottle) with approx. 1/2 cup of cornstarch and approx. 1/4 cup of water. I estimated these amounts and added more cornstarch and glue when desiring a thicker paste consistency.
Dip the yarn into the glue mixture, squeeze out excess, and begin wrapping around the balloon vertically and then switch to horizontally. Once you have covered a good part of your balloon, cut the yarn and tie to a surrounding piece. I chose to do this near the stem of the balloon so it would not be as obvious when hanging.
6. Drying/Popping:
Allow yarn chandeliers to hang for 24 hours in a dry, covered area. Do not attempt to shorten this process!
Next, pop the balloon (this is where I held my breath in anticipation). The yarn will also have dried glue crystals however they easily flake off when tapped.
Now your yarn chandeliers are ready to hang! I used mine for my Whimsical Winter Wonderland photo shoot and then hung them in my children’s playroom for a fun pop of color!
- Photography of the final product by: SweetBee Photography
117 Comments
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Kind of in love with this!!! I might use some jute cording and make some rustic cozy-home ones!
LOVE these, Nicolle!! So cute!!! :)
I love these – such a great idea. How did you hang them from your ceiling? My husband would freak out about tacks in the ceiling, but I can’t think of another way.
Hi Jennifer! I actually just taped them to the ceiling with packaging tape. They are very light and the tape didn’t leave a mark.
I love this! I’m thinking that when I make these that I will try to tint the glue mixture with food coloring (like for icing) to match the yarn colors. That way I don’t have to worry so much about the dried glue crystals. It would drive me crazy to get every little bit of them off if they were white.
Oh, my. LOVE these! I am so doing this a my next party. I have shared this at thecraftersfilebox.com. Thanks so much for the amazing idea!
I am in love with this! I have been looking for some easy, budget friendly room decor ideas for my daughter’s playroom and this is perfect! What fun!
I remember making these as a very young child with a neighbor lady only we used embroidery floss and starch. After they dried we added glitter and gems and what ever else shiny. Fun fun! Thanks for the memories and up-dated version. :0)
I love this! I think I’m going to have to try it. Are they stiff enough that you could make them and put them in a bowl?
Hi Tera,
So glad you like them! You can definitely make smaller versions to put in a bowl. Each sphere is very light and surprisingly sturdy.
Thanks! I actually made some yesterday…LOVE them! Thanks so much!
I just made these last night my sister’s 40th birthday party, which was tonight (procrastinate much?). My sister owns a yarn shop, and many of her guests were patrons and friends from the shop, so this was perfect! I made the first few with yellow and turquoise yarn I bought, then made several more in different colors by just adding acrylic paint directly to the glue mixture to color white yarn I had on hand.
They were a huge hit, and even the colors of my hand-dyed ones were very saturated, bright, and fun! Thanks!
I love these! I think I will do a version of these for the table decor at my Winter Party later this month. It’ll also be a great way for me to use up some super fine white baby yarn I am not going to use for anything else. Thanks for the idea!
LOVE this!! Do they last for a while or do they lose their shape? I’d love to decorate the girls’ rooms too.
Hi Nikki,
They will last as long you want {in a dry area, of course}. As long as they don’t get wet, the yarn remains stiff. They would look perfect in a bedroom or a playroom.
As soon as I saw these, I immediately thought BALLOONS! I recently made chocolate bowls with inflated balloons. I love this idea to make yarn chandeliers.
Oh my cuteness!!!!
Love it! Another item for my party {to-do list}
I love these yarn spheres! They’re modern yet have an almost cozy-rustic element to them!
Ahhh! I’m so sorry I pasted another website in my previous comment by mistake! D: That’s what happens when you’re saving wedding blog links for later I guess XP
Love, LOVE the yarn tips! Thank you for posting. Beyond cute. =)
Very cool idea!
Love the colors. I might try to this one day. :-)
OMG! I love this! I recently got engaged and am going over so many creative ideas I can do myself as well as offer to clients through my event planning company and this is soooo cool and sooo easy!
Great post!
Me encanta la inspiración en las fiestas, me gusta todo lo que hacen felicitaciones. Por favor en español Un beso
LOVE THIS!!! I am in charge of decorating for a huge baby shower on a tiny budget–this will fit the bill! Talk about maximizing impact with minimum cost; excellent!
So i think these are the cutest things ever. I wanted to make them for my sons Yo! Gabba Gabba party this weekend. Well i just attempted and needless to say i am covered in vaseline and glue, and no pretty yarn balls :( Im having difficulty wrapping the yarn around. Especially the bigger ones. Tips? Or am i just not crafty enough?! help!
How did you attach them to the wall? Did you tape the hanging thread to the ceiling?
Hi- I hung them from my ceiling with packaging tape. They are very light so no worries about falling.
Mahalo for sharing!
I just made 20 of these. What a pain!!! Once I figured out all the tricks it was easier. But it took almost 3 hours! I hope they turn out as cute as these!
Would you be willing to share your tricks so I don’t have to spend 3 hours re learning them? :)
Is there anything to substitute for petroleum jelly? like cooking spray ect?
I wonder if you could make a hole big enough to string a lighting cord kit through it. These would make an awesome group on hanging lights.
You absolutely could. I saw many great ideas for this on Pinterest. Good luck and send me pics if you try.. it would look amazing!
Love these, can’t wait to try them for my daughters first birthday!
Hi Nicolle, I really like your idea of these yarn balls. I tried making these tonight, and had a hard time keeping the yarn on the balloons. Do you have any ideas for me? Want to make them for my daughters baby shower on the 18Th of Feb.
Naomi
Hi Naomi- I am so sorry to be replying so late. I had not been checking this as I should. So many people have emailed me about the chandeliers that I forget to come back to the actual tutorial that made this oh so popular. Anyway, I am hoping you were able to solve the issue before your daughter’s shower. I initially had this problem too and would then just start wrapping vertically and horizontally around the balloon to try and create more of a ‘hold’ with the yarn. Let me know how it turned out. Best of luck!
These are so cute and an inexpensive bang for the buck. Am trying to decorate for a fashion show fundraiser and every penny counts! I tried them last night and was a bit surprised when I came back from making another glue batch the balloon had popped and all the yarn was in a heap on the floor. So…I tried again…same thing! As it is drying the balloon pops! I noticed that the mixture gets a bit hot (like a chemical reaction?) but is that what is making the balloons pop? What am I doing wrong???
Hmmm– I have never heard this before. Now, I had a few pop but that was because I put a heater in the room to try and speed up the drying process (big no no), but it sounds like your mixture was already generating heat. Did you happen to wrap the balloon too tight? Once the yarn dries, it shrinks and could have caused the balloon to pop. I am sorry to hear this especially since you are trying so hard! Let me know if you tried again and if I can offer any other suggestions. Happy to try and help.
Do i cut the yarn in strips or is it just one long peice?
Hi Sam- one long strip. This is the challenge and why it is helpful to ask someone to assist, if you can. I unraveled a bunch of yarn and would dip it into the mixture, squeeze out excess and then wrap. However, if you had an extra set of hands they could feed the yarn into the mixture and you could pull the yarn out and wrap. I know it sounds tricky but it can be done. I did this alone on a windy day in my garage. I am not saying it was a walk in the park but the result is worth it, I promise! Let me know if you have any more questions. I am happy to help.
Thinking of doing this instead of tissue paper poms in baby-on-the-way’s nursery. Will flakes continue to shed or does it eventually stop? They’d be hanging over her crib so just wondering. Thanks!
Even if they aren’t used in the nursery, they will be a MUST for the baby shower!
So sorry.. I need to be checking this more often! If it were me I probably would not hang over the crib just because if the little glue crystals did ‘shed’ it would be another reason to worry since it is impossible to remove every little one. However, I think they would look darling hanging in a corner with varying lengths. I used mine to create a little scenery in a corner “book nook” where the kids can relax on beanbags and read. An easy way ti brighten a room. Good luck and email me if you have any questions.
Love this idea! We are making 3 different shades of purple to decorate the ceiling along with orange parasols for a chic baby shower!!!! Thanks so much for the idea!!!!!!! My 12 year old and I are having fun with these making different designs on the balloons with the yarn. My son is having fun with a water balloon size chandelier too! :)
How do i add glitter to it???
I believe Martha Stewart makes spray glitter. I would give that a whirl.
How lovely! I can’t wait to make this
Awesome! I am doing them for my daughters “cat in the hat” themed room. Is there anything i can use instead of vaseline (petroleum jelly)?
Hi Kirsty,
I am not so sure. I was hesitant to try it without since I knew I would be mad at myself if I went through all of the steps only for the yarn to adhere to the balloon. Maybe try a lotion of some sort? Just a thought… good luck!
Hi, i wanted to know about how much is 1/2 bottle of school glue? Im from another country and we have glue in various types of bottles. If i could get a rough estimate in ‘ml’, it would help.
Also after reading some reviews, am feeling scared to tackle this simple project but which finally seems harder (since it requires one extra pair of hands if possible or we must struggle with the wrapping around the balloon). What is really hard and what can ease it if possible? thanks
:) Chamila from Mauritius (island in the Indian Ocean)
Amazing! This is such a great party decor idea. So beautiful and fun!
Thank you for sharing!!!
We made these as young kids but we used a sugar base at Easter so they look like Easter eggs and cut out a hole to use as an Easter basket. We don’t have the recipe anymore for the sugar base…wish I did cause I would love to make again!
Do you dip the entire thing of yarn into the glue?
No, I would feed a little into the mixture, wrap, feed more into mixture, wrap etc. If you have someone that could help at this stage it would be much easier, however it can be accomplished alone albeit very messy!
I am going to try slipping in the flameless tealights you can get at the $1 store. the Grandkids will love these at night
Girls might love some "bling", like some irridescent glitter added sparsley to the last layer of glue mixture!
I love this idea, and am making them for a baby shower. I found them a little difficult to make as the yarn kept getting tangled and knotted. Any suggestions on how to avoid this?
great project for grandkids.
so get on it…the girls could use a cluster for their room! ;)
so get on it…the girls could use a cluster for their room! ;)
I will as soon as Nana's stuff is over with
How will these hold up to high humidity??? I really want to make them but my house doesn’t have central air because it’s 100 years old (give or take) :-)
Think I'll try making these for cat toys. Might be interesting!
What a good idea, so simple but so cute!
Completely magical!
We used to do this when I was a little girl with white twine and then put little Christmas ornaments in between the spaces.
Gonna attempt this today! I think these will look great in my nursery :b
Well I tried this and it did not work cause with the the petroleum jelly the slipped off and is very hard to keep on. So if any one can explain how to do it, it would be helpful
I read they the directions. Two things… The yarn might be one of a slippery nature. TRy a rough yarn. Not a silky one. Also., the Vaseline… Should not prevent yarn from sticking. Is the tension firm on the yarn as u are wrapping? I would think the tension would require a firmness. Ill see I'd I have the stuff I try this project. Maybe I should come to ur place and see what u have learned and tried. They look really cool.
I’m wondering if spray glue would work, or if the corn starch is the key?
I’m so glad to have found this! I use to make something similar with sugar instead of glue when my kids were little.I cut out the center and used it for an Easter Basket.
SO I love these! But did you have any issues with the balloons popping? I don’t know what I’m doing wrong. They aren’t over inflated, but I was about to call it done when POP goes the project…
:(
Hey there! Random question but…how did you make the paper cones that are displayed in the picture with the yarn chandelier? So cute!!
These are adorable! I tried to make some this afternoon and the balloons kept popping on me! They were just tied with the petroleum on them and they just kept popping! I was only able to wrap yarn on 2 out of the 8 I attempted to do. Any tips or suggestions? It was pretty hot out… Thx!
Is it necessary to use petroleum jelly? any substitutions for it please? Thanks.
I haven't tried this so I could be wrong, but I immediately thought I would try this with Pam/spray cooking oil instead of vaseline…seems like it would be easier.
Thank you so much.. iam absolutely gonna try it soon :)
Is it necessary to use petroleum jelly? any substitutions for it please? Thanks.
Hi there,
The petroleum jelly protects the balloon from popping when the yarn is hardening from the glue mixture. I have never tried it without so I cannot say if a substitution would work. Good luck! I promise it’s worth it!
Is the glue mixture supposed to last for many balloons? I made one tonight and it took almost the entire batch, but I rubbed glue in my hands then rubbed it on the yarn as I went along. I first tried dipping the yarn in the glue and ringing it out but it knotted up.
We tried this..we accomplished about 10 of them and hung them on a carport to dry. One by one the balloons popped, collapsing the wet yarn, throughout the evening and by morning we only had 1 left standing. It is beautiful but alot of work with such unfavorable results..does anyone know why this happened?
temperature change, the air trapped inside the balloon may have been warmer, in the evening it cooled down. Warm air expands = balloon pops. That's my guess anyways. I think you need to do it inside in a temp controlled environment!
I've attempted these yarn balls several times and this method worked (several others failed). It is a VERY messy project but the results are fantastic. The petroleum jelly worked well because it doesn't really dry. I don't know how cooking spray would work….it's worth a try…you just must prevent the yarn from sticking to your balloon when deflating or it will just pull the yarn and collapse your ball. Also I dried mine outside for about 6 hours on a warm day and a second time had to move them indoors (garage) where it was also fairly warm. I don't think you want them to be anywhere that has moisture or it will prevent the yarn from drying. I did not measure my ingredients but you want to be sure not to add too much water. And lastly, it is definitely tricky to get the yarn around the balloon without slipping off….you just need to wrap the yarn around and very gradually turn your balloon…once you have a good base of yarn you can then wrap some in a more random pattern to give you the more messy look. And deflate the balloon slowly so the yarn detaches gradually.
I just got all set up for this and started dipping and wrapping and I gave up. It’s a lot harder than it looks. The yarn kept slipping off the balloon and getting out of place. Was it too much vaseline or too much paste?
Just love yarn chandeliers! XD
Sharing this tutorial on my channel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Fjamxnd5hI&feature=youtu.be
I just tried this today. yuckie fun…I will let you know how it turns out…
I used this craft with preschoolers. Most loves squishing white cotton twine into white glue and wrapping the balloons. After they were wrapped, the kids rolled their balloon in either a solid or mixed color glitter. We set them on waxed paper to dry (teachers turned them), popped the balloon and then hung a twine piece. A parent who became a friend said they had theirs hanging for years! Of course, once you start with glitter, you never see the end of it! Fun!
Absolutely brilliant! Thank you so much for a great tutorial. Guess I have to go shopping later! :)
– Love from Norway
Really messy! Harder than it looks! The mixture lasted for about 1 and 1/2 balloons so had to remix in the middle of wrapping. Got two done then quit…I’ll wait to see how they turn out before I decide if doing more is worth it
how did you come up with this, I am soooo doing this for my 10th birthday!
Can you please tell me where you got your yarn.I can’t find those colors anywhere.
My email is dawnpiotter@gmail.com thanks so much. I’m doing my grandaughters 1st bday.
awesome but how do you hang it from the ceiling
The clear, damage-free hooks from 3m are a good trick for hanging things from the ceiling :) Here’s what they look like.
Fun project, great tutorial!
Have you ever thought of dividing the comments section into two parts? One for compliments, and one for ‘tips and questions’? There are so many comments, that I didn’t read them all but now that I’m waiting for everything to dry I’m reading and learning so much that I wish I’d known before.
TIPS and QUESTIONS:
1Q) What’s the point of the corn starch and water? The crystals were quite a problem on my first try. Other tutorials suggest pulling string through glue. Has anyone tried spray stiffener or spray starch?
2) Wait 24 hours (like she says) or just be sure that your yarn feels crispy before you try to pop the balloon.
3) Regarding lubricants: I tried dry spray silicone & almond oil. The silicone worked well, and I’m still waiting on the almond oil. I have a feeling that the un-drying moisture of the almond oil is going to prevent the yarn from drying thoroughly…doh!
4) Acrylic paint in the glue: What a great idea!
5) Glitter sounds fun! Just remember not to hang these over your food if you put glitter on them.
I’m looking to use this idea to decorate our nursery rooms in our Early Childhood Dept at church.
I love these. I am doing a party in the park and will hang these from my pop ups. Thanks for the idea !!
ME ENCANTA LA IDEA LA VOY A PONER EN PRACTICA PARA EL SÁBADO 29 YA QUE MI NIETA CUMPLE 2 AÑITOS
The materials list was not clear enough. You just listed “balloons” instead of “punch balloons”.
When it dries, does it get flaky because of the glue?
Is it okay if i use cooking oil instead of vaseline??
Trying this today!!!
If I were to make one of these as a light shade instead of a decoration, would it be fireproof … bit of a silly question
Wow what a great idea, thanks for sharing! We love this, so have featured your post in our wool crafts round up x (http://buttonsandpaint.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/wool-crafts.html)
is there anything you could use instead of a balloon?
We made some of these and they worked great! To the person that the yarn kept sliding, I think you probably used too much Vaseline, or didn't wrap vertical lines first. That's important because it gives the horizontal lines something to stick to. I I'd also hasn't these to dry inside so the balloons don't shrink or swell from temperature changes.
Suprising my Daughter who is fixing to turn 12 we are completly remodeling her Room its a big suprise i will be making these not sure where to hide them though.
Huge mess. We only did two, and I'm not even sure they are going to turn out. it's hard to keep the string in a constant motion. Seems that it tends to gob up toward the top because you have to turn the balloon. I saved the rest of the gluey mess just in case we did it right and they look okay. Not too impressed with this craft, though.
Can you use flour as a substitute instead of cornstarch?
You did a great job explaining your tutorial! I'm a small picture girl so I need step-by-step! LoL!
Hey!can u tell me something we can add instead of cornstarch??
Great idea but where do you buy the corn starch
So cute and fun! I am sharing this on Pinterest!!
I’m going to try them with cute florl fabric strips, it will be easier then string.
how do u cut off the excess balloon?
Shelby Jones I agree. Definitely due to temperature change. I've done this with crepe paper to make giant Easter eggs. Came out very pretty. No early popping…did it indoors.