DIY Lei Chandelier

Whether you’re planning a Hawaiian Luau, beach party, or just an end of summer party, a Lei Chandelier is a must make party craft! Kori, {Creative Team} is showing us how to make a lei chandy. Enjoy! -Linda

DIY Lei Chandelier

lei chandelier

Whether you are planning an “end of the summer” bash or a kid’s birthday party, a luau is always a fun theme! My daughter turned 6 last weekend, and she was set on having a Luau, so I found packs of 12 lei’s for $3 on Oriental Trading and ordered my weight in them! I knew I wanted to craft with them, but I wasn’t sure what to make. I knew that I wanted a craft that would have a big impact without spending a ton of time or money. 

I went into the garage as my husband was cleaning things out and he had 2 old galvanized metal 3-ring tomato cages ready to toss into the trash. All of the sudden it occurred to me what I could make for the luau! He may have thought I temporarily lost it when I  happily said “Hey, I want those to make chandeliers!!”

My first thought was to cut the lei’s and tie them on…then it occurred to me that I could simply loop the circular lei around the ring and pull it back through itself… so simple!!!

How to Make a Lei Chandelier 

Supplies

  • 3-ring tomato cage (duct taped in the broken parts!)
  • 3 bags of leis (12 leis in each bag).

how to make a lei chandelier

I began on the bottom with the blue leis. To attach each lei, I looped the lei around the wire and then pulled it down through itself. {see photo below} Each ring on the tomato cage is separated by the vertical stakes going up, so it was very easy to separate the lei’s evenly around each circle. Plus, the vertical stakes help hold the leis in place so they don’t all fall to one side.

DIY lei chandy

I continued around doing four in each interval, which equaled one bag per ring.

luau party decor

I used purple on the second ring, then pink around the very top.

easy lei chandelier

Once I finished all of the layers ( 3 bags of leis = $9) I was left with it standing like seen here.

lei craft

My first idea was to use wire cutters to cut the bottom legs off (which you could do and then cover them with tape to keep them from being sharp), but when I couldn’t find those, I simply bent the “bottom legs” of the cage up and tucked them into the chandelier. Finally I used ribbon across the top, made a second lei chandelier, and suspended them from either side of the dessert table at our Luau!

diy lei chandy

For more lei chandelier (and luau party pictures) check out full party on my blog, Paper & Pigtails, tomorrow!

Happy crafting, Kori

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