My inspiration was a beautiful "garden chandelier" I saw in Midwest Living (see picture of summer chandelier). I thought it would be spectacular to make a winter chandelier with mercury glass. Mercury glass is SO in this season, I couldn't help but try my hand at making my own.

I picked up six Mason jars and a canning basket at my local thrift store. To make the mercury glass, I sprayed a 50/50 mixture of water and vinegar on the jars (one at a time) then quickly sprayed them with Rust-Oleum Mirror Effects. The paint dries almost immediately so I blotted the bubbles with a paper towel and was left with the mercury glass effect. Serveral coats may be required to get the desired results.

Next, I cut four-three foot lengths of chain and connected them to the canning basket with threaded links. I used one large threaded link to connect all four chains at the top. I spray painted the chain, basket and threaded links with Universal metallic paint and primer in satin nickel so they would all be uniform in color.

Using greens mostly from my back yard, I sprayed pinecones and eucalyptus branches with glitter, flocked the greens and arranged them in the middle of the canning basket using florist foam. The last step is to fill the bottom of each jar with a bit of sand and drop in a candle - then enjoy!

I was hoping for a light dusting of snow to cover the brown ground for my pictures. I didn't think it was going to happen, but it finally did - yeah! Thanks to my son for taking all my pictures!

I don't know whether or not I'll keep this project. I think it would look amazing on a house with a front porch or on a garden arbour, of which I have neither. The thing about this chandelier is that is can easily be disassembled for storage and reassembled to use any time of year by simply updating the floral arrangement to the corresponding season. It's very versitile.

Mercury Glass Winter Chandelier