5.4.15 51

DIY Mardi Gras Bead Champagne Art

You guys—this is probably the craziest, most labor intensive do-it-yourself project that I’ve done.

The beautiful DIY mardi gras bead champagne art that now hangs proudly over my bar cart took no less than eleven months to complete, $60 worth of six different color mardi gras beads, and over four 24-packs of hot glue gun sticks.

I shamelessly forced at least five of my friends to help me cut the mardi gras beads off their strands, and probably skewed my Amazon Prime profile to “mardi gras obsessed” along the way.

DIY Mardi Gras Bead Champagne Art

DIY Mardi Gras Bead Champagne Art

This whole project started one Friday afternoon when I was procrastinating at work, pinning things to my apartment decor board on Pinterest. I stumbled on this beautiful canvas, and spent the next few days trying to track down a similar one on the Internet.

When I showed it to my coworker, she told me I should just make one myself since it looked simple enough. A few days later, more mardi gras beads than I could count showed up on my door step and there was no turning back.

Even though it took me 11 months to complete, that factors in a lot of procrastination because, sometimes, the last thing you want to do after work is sit on the floor with a hot glue gun, you know?

DIY Mardi Gras Bead Champagne Art

DIY Mardi Gras Bead Champagne Art

So on the off chance you want to undertake this project yourself—and no, I definitely am not starting an Etsy shop anytime soon—here’s how I made this beauty:

1. In the center of  a 24 x 36″ canvas, I sketched the outline of a champagne bottle with a ballpoint pen. It doesn’t matter if it’s neat because the whole surface of the canvas will eventually be covered. (Sidenote—I totally cheated since my freehand is subpar at best and printed out a bottle on a few sheets of paper and taped them together to make a stencil.)

2. Cut beads off string and sort by color. I used gold, pearl white, orange, light green, dark green, and black. I purchased more white and gold beads than the the other colors since I knew I would be using more of them.

3. Hot glue beans onto canvas. I usually put down enough glue for three to four beads at a time so that the glue wouldn’t dry out.

4. Hang and enjoy when done! (Mine is supported by four nails because those beads are heavy!)

DIY Mardi Gras Bead Champagne Art

DIY Mardi Gras Bead Champagne Art

And if you do decide to make one of your own or use this method to create some other fab wall art, learn from my mistakes—order more beads than you think you’ll need.

I ran out of white pearl beads about halfway through and went to order them on Amazon. Turns out, the vendor stopped selling them and it took me three more vendors—and hassle-filled returns—to get an exact match again.

Added bonus—you’ll be all set when fat Tuesday rolls around again. Cheers!

DIY Mardi Gras Bead Champagne Art

diy-mardi-gras-bead-art-17

** SHOP THIS POST **
Threshold Bar Cart
C Wonder Chevron Tumblrs
Metal Hammered Serving Bowl

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51 Comments

  1. Wow!!! This is so so cool!!! 11 months and your talent and dedication paid off big time!! It’s perfect and I hope your week ahead is too!!!! xo

    livingoncloudandreanine.blogspot.com

    Published 5.4.15
    Reply
    • Katie wrote:

      Aw thanks Andrea! I hope you have a perfect week too! xo

      Published 5.4.15
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  2. Oh my gosh it looks SO GOOD!! Yay for finally being done… I hope you got to break open one of those bottles of Veuve 🙂 Also, these photographs are beautiful. Teach me your ways?!

    Published 5.4.15
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    • Katie wrote:

      Thanks Monica! Come over any time and we can do Veuve over Lightroom ;]

      Published 5.4.15
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      • Aixa wrote:

        Wowww wowww just wowwww

        Published 10.5.21
        Reply
  3. Christie wrote:

    Wow!!! This is gorgeous. I love that wall art. It must have taken forever to place all of those mardi gras beads but SOO worth it! The whole set-up with the art and bar cart has such a luxe look. I can’t believe the bar cart is from Target! That Threshold line is nice.

    Christie
    The Closet by Christie

    http://www.theclosetbychristie.com

    Published 5.4.15
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    • Katie wrote:

      Thank you so much Christie! SO worth it in the end! Threshold is killin’ it and I have seen some fab tutorials for if you really want to take it up a notch

      Published 5.4.15
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  4. Bree wrote:

    You’re kind of my hero. And can you make me one? Because I think my patience level would last about 11 seconds before I gave up. This is so incredible!

    Published 5.4.15
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    • Katie wrote:

      Aww thanks girl! I can definitely add you to the list — maybe mini ones should be my next endeavor! ;]

      Published 5.4.15
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  5. This post is such an eye candy! Exceptional photos!!

    Published 5.4.15
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    • Katie wrote:

      Thank you Lubka! xo

      Published 5.4.15
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  6. Kristen wrote:

    I am so impressed!! This is incredible!! And it is perfect for above a bar cart! Love love love! Plus it’s my favorite champs!

    Published 5.4.15
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    • Katie wrote:

      Thank you, Kristen! You have fab taste – it’s mine too ;]

      Published 5.4.15
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  7. Wow- that is amazing. It really looks like an expensive piece of artwork. I would never have the patience to embark on something so time intensive, but I would def buy one 😉

    Published 5.4.15
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    • Katie wrote:

      Thank you so much Anessa! I’ll let you know if I ever do find myself with enough time for an Etsy shop ;]

      Published 5.4.15
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  8. Joanna wrote:

    This is one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen! I wish I had the time for a project like this. If I didn’t take you so long, I would say you should totally make them to sell;)

    Published 5.4.15
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    • Katie wrote:

      Aw thanks Joanna! I’ll let you know if I ever do sell ’em ;]

      Published 5.4.15
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  9. Maddy wrote:

    THIS. IS. AMAZING. I seriously want to try this now! I have no time to try this, but I really, REALLY want to!

    Darn you Katie.

    Published 5.4.15
    Reply
    • Katie wrote:

      Aw so so so glad you like it! You totally should — it is so worth it!

      Published 5.4.15
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  10. OH MY GOSH! This is so fabulous! I feel like this is the most hardcore DIY I’ve ever seen. 11 months? I’d say it was worth it. You could sell these! I’m obsessed…

    Published 5.4.15
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    • Katie wrote:

      SO worth it! Thanks for your kind words :]

      Published 5.4.15
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  11. Seriously OBSESSED with this post!! Cannot believe it took 11 months, but boy was it worth it! Such a gorgeous final product!! Thanks for sharing! xo

    Kristyn
    Primp and Proper

    Published 5.4.15
    Reply
    • Katie wrote:

      SOOO THANKFUL FOR YOUR SUPPORT, KRISTYN! xoxo

      Published 5.4.15
      Reply
  12. Wow, what patience you have. This looks pretty! I don’t know that I have the patience to create something as big as the one you created. 🙂

    Published 5.4.15
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    • Katie wrote:

      Thank you so much! xo

      Published 5.4.15
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  13. Jenny wrote:

    Wow, this is absolutely amazing!
    I am pretty sure I have a ton of Mardi Gras beads to lend if anyone needs any for future projects.
    Good job though.
    I am far too impatient for most DIY projects.

    xoxo, Jenny || Breakfast at Lillys

    Published 5.4.15
    Reply
    • Katie wrote:

      You should totally give a mini one a whirl with those extra beads! Thanks for stopping by! xo

      Published 5.4.15
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  14. Maggie wrote:

    This is amazing Katie!! Even if it did take 11 months, this seriously is beautiful!! Let me tell you, if I tried to do this myself, it would look like baby art. I am so impressed!! and your bar cart is beautiful!

    Maggie

    Published 5.4.15
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    • Katie wrote:

      Aw thank you Maggie! xoxo

      Published 5.4.15
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  15. T Austin at Good Enuf Mommy wrote:

    Great idea! Great set up as well and I love the color scheme!

    Published 5.4.15
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    • Katie wrote:

      So glad you like it! Thank you :]

      Published 5.4.15
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  16. Oh my gosh, this is amazing! You did a beautiful job creating it!

    Published 5.4.15
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    • Katie wrote:

      Thank you Valerie! xo

      Published 5.4.15
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  17. Lauren wrote:

    OMG!!!!! I cannot believe you did this yourself. I would have given up 1/2 of the way through. It’s so amazing!

    Published 5.4.15
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    • Katie wrote:

      YAY! SO glad you like it Lauren! Thank ya! xo

      Published 5.4.15
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  18. libys11 wrote:

    woahh!! that’s incredible!!! 😀

    Have a great week!
    Animated Confessions

    Published 5.4.15
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  19. This is a very cool and clever idea!

    Published 5.4.15
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  20. Mikkaela wrote:

    Ahhhh, this is so cute, absolutely love!!
    xx, Mikkaela

    Published 5.5.15
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    • Katie wrote:

      Thanks Mikkaela! xo

      Published 5.6.15
      Reply
  21. I just love the champagne art. I don’t know if I’d be able to actually accomplish this lol, but I will definitely give this DIY a go. And I just love that cart as well. Beautiful.

    K / House of KTS (formerly of Pure & Complex)
    http://www.houseofkts.com

    Published 5.5.15
    Reply
    • Katie wrote:

      Thank you so much! xo

      Published 5.6.15
      Reply
  22. danielle wrote:

    wow this is so cool and creative!

    Published 5.5.15
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  23. Okay, seriously impressed here!! All I can say is wow!! LOVE your chic bar set up! And that Threshold bar cart is the perfect addition!

    Taffeta & Tulips

    Published 5.5.15
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    • Katie wrote:

      Aw thanks SO much Kate! xo

      Published 5.6.15
      Reply
  24. Holy smokes this is gorgeous! love your bar cart too!

    xox
    Tess | Sequins are the New Black

    Published 7.15.16
    Reply
  25. Kendall wrote:

    this is amazing!!! i’m buying the stuff right now to make me one 🙂 about how many of each color did you use? and where did you get all these beads?

    Published 8.26.21
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    • Katie wrote:

      Thank you! I got them an Oriental Trading Company and cut them off the strings, and it’s honestly been so long, I don’t remember how many I ordered!

      Published 8.27.21
      Reply