A few readers called us out about something we mentioned earlier during our BHG & Home Depot–sponsored porch makeover. In the early posts about the project we said we planned to make some twine mobiles, but they didn’t appear in the big reveal. We were allowed to change plans, of course, but the real reason was that the twine-mobile idea failed and we had to find another way to add ambiance to the porch corner. Things worked out in the end, but here’s the longer story of how we arrived at the hanging candle holders that now dress the front porch:
John and I had clipped an idea from ReadyMade magazine that used string, a balloon and fabric stiffener to create a unique hanging fixture. When we were at Home Depot looking for something to hang on the porch, we saw jute twine and thought we could adapt that technique to make woven twine orbs. Twine is heavier than the string used in the magazine, and Home Depot didn’t carry fabric stiffener (our sponsorship required sourcing everything from Home Depot), but we still believed we could make it work.
We substituted indoor/outdoor clear gloss urethane for fabric stiffener, expecting it to stiffen the twine after wrapping it around a balloon and form a durable shell that could withstand weather. John blew up a balloon and tied the twine to the knot, then soaked sections of twine in urethane and wrapped it around the balloon to build a woven globe.
It was messy, but working outside over a large piece of cardboard made the process manageable. Within about thirty minutes we had three different-sized twine spheres hanging in the garage to dry. Our plan was simple: once the urethane set, we’d pop the balloons and have lightweight textured mobiles ready for the porch.
Within half an hour we had three twine orbs drying. We left them to cure while we went out of town for Easter, confident they would be ready when we returned. Or so we thought.
When we came back, the spheres had collapsed into limp, matted lumps. Yes, that’s me holding our defeated twine creations. We had a few theories about what went wrong: the urethane might have reacted with the balloons and caused them to burst before the twine dried; the twine could simply be too heavy for the urethane to support in that shape; or maybe the universe intended another outcome and nudged us toward a different design. Whatever the cause, our original plan had failed.
Back to Home Depot we went, determined to redeem the project. Initially we tried to revive the twine orbs by inserting something round inside to push them back into shape. In the lighting department we found inexpensive glass bulb covers for about $4.99 each and decided to try those. We chose thick ribbed glass to withstand outdoor exposure. Once we had them, our idea shifted from saving the twine blobs to making small hanging candle holders from the glass covers. We returned to grab thin wire to hang the covers.
How did we make them hang? After a bit of trial and error we discovered that forming a tight wire ring around the neck of each glass cover was step one. Using needle-nose pliers we cut a length of wire with about an inch of extra on each end, then twisted the ends around each other so the ring sat firmly beneath the lip of the glass. Next we cut a long piece of wire to serve as the handle. We looped this long wire under the ring and twisted roughly an inch of each end around both the ring and itself to lock it in place. We left about a half-inch of extra wire on each side, tucked tightly around the lip at a right angle to help prevent the handle from sliding around the ring. Tightening the twists with pliers ensured a sturdy connection.
In short: a secure wire ring under the glass lip provides the foundation for a hanging loop. Slip a pillar candle inside and you have a charming lantern. Each lantern took about five minutes to assemble, and they’ve been hanging on the front porch through rain and even a tornado warning without issue.
In the end we love the warm ambiance our trio of candle-lit accents adds to the porch, and the whole set cost about $20. While we’re bummed our twine mobiles didn’t work out, the second approach was the winner.
What about you? Have you used unexpected items from a hardware store or grocery store to enhance your home decor? We’d love to hear your ideas and experiments.