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.
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?
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!)
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!
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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
Aw thanks Andrea! I hope you have a perfect week too! xo
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?!
Thanks Monica! Come over any time and we can do Veuve over Lightroom ;]
Wowww wowww just wowwww
thank you! xx
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
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
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!
Aww thanks girl! I can definitely add you to the list — maybe mini ones should be my next endeavor! ;]
This post is such an eye candy! Exceptional photos!!
Thank you Lubka! xo
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!
Thank you, Kristen! You have fab taste – it’s mine too ;]
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 😉
Thank you so much Anessa! I’ll let you know if I ever do find myself with enough time for an Etsy shop ;]
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;)
Aw thanks Joanna! I’ll let you know if I ever do sell ’em ;]
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.
Aw so so so glad you like it! You totally should — it is so worth it!
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…
SO worth it! Thanks for your kind words :]
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
SOOO THANKFUL FOR YOUR SUPPORT, KRISTYN! xoxo
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. 🙂
Thank you so much! xo
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
You should totally give a mini one a whirl with those extra beads! Thanks for stopping by! xo
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
Aw thank you Maggie! xoxo
Great idea! Great set up as well and I love the color scheme!
So glad you like it! Thank you :]
Oh my gosh, this is amazing! You did a beautiful job creating it!
Thank you Valerie! xo
OMG!!!!! I cannot believe you did this yourself. I would have given up 1/2 of the way through. It’s so amazing!
YAY! SO glad you like it Lauren! Thank ya! xo
woahh!! that’s incredible!!! 😀
Have a great week!
Animated Confessions
Thanks girl! xo
This is a very cool and clever idea!
Thank you! xo
Ahhhh, this is so cute, absolutely love!!
xx, Mikkaela
Thanks Mikkaela! xo
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
Thank you so much! xo
wow this is so cool and creative!
thank you! xo
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
Aw thanks SO much Kate! xo
Holy smokes this is gorgeous! love your bar cart too!
xox
Tess | Sequins are the New Black
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?
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!