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Woman Creates Stunning Chandelier Out Of Pasta Shells

Woman Creates Stunning Chandelier Out Of Pasta Shells

Katrina Brittain, 47, spent just £5.60 on her chandelier replica.

Ciara Sheppard

Ciara Sheppard

We all remember sticking dried pasta to sheets of paper with PVA glue when we were in school and calling it art.

Now, one upcycling-obsessed mum is taking lessons from the childhood arts and crafts activity to create something all-the-more chic.

Katrina Brittain had spotted a swanky light fitting in the Next catalogue which she thought would be perfect for her newly-decorated bedroom, but her husband Adam winced at the £160 price-tag.

The Next chandelier Katrina wanted was a touch too expensive (
Kennedy)

Not being deterred, the mum-of-two, 47, set out to make it her own version of the stunning chandelier.

However, instead of heading to the local arts and crafts shop for her supplies, she decided to get Adam to pick up two extra bags of pasta from Sainsbury's.

The mum got her husband to pick up some extra bags of pasta form Sainsbury's (
Kennedy)

The learning support assistant cooked the pasta, rolled it into balls and began sliding them on to a wire frame.

She then look her creation into the garden to spray paint it white before giving it pride of place above her bed.

"Adam keeps banging his head on the chandelier because he's 6' 3". But if I had to choose between the two, the chandelier is staying - it was a real labour of love," said Katrina, from Rugby, Warks.

She began by creating a wire frame for her light fitting (
Kennedy)

"I am quite smug with the end results. When I look at it now I'm thinking what else can I make. I keep checking the store cupboard to see what I can use next.

"I've sent pictures of it to all of my friends because we're all doing our own projects. Everyone is going mad for my chandelier. It's been a bit of a sensation.

"At some points I could have thrown this chandelier out of the window. I kept thinking that this was stupid, why are you doing it, but I just kept going on.

Katrina then cooked her pasta and rolled them into balls before sliding them on her frame (
Kennedy)

"It took nine days in total. I've spent £5.60 in total. I wanted to make it as near a replica as the Next one and I've saved myself almost the full price.

"I'd just finished painting my bedroom and we had the Next directory lying around, so I've been flicking through it looking for ideas.

"That's when I saw the chandelier. I wanted it so badly.

"When Adam saw the price, he told me I was crazy. So I thought, I think I can make this. I became engrossed in trying to source all the items to make this chandelier.

Once her pasta had dried, Katrina took her creation outside to spray paint (
Kennedy)

"I asked Adam to get pasta when he was out shopping, so said could he get two bags of macaroni as I thought that would be easier to just thread on.

"But he couldn't get any so he came back with two bags of conchiglie and I had to change my plan."

After finding the conchiglie simply would not stick to her wire frame, she geniusly cooked them and reshaped them into balls which she then painstakingly fed through her frame.

She then had to wait for almost a week before they had dried enough to begin painting.

Katrina is a learning support assistant from Rugby, Warks (
Kennedy)

Again, thrifty Katrina mixed spare paint she had in her home with water in an old Febreeze spray bottle. She applied four coats to her chandelier to complete it.

"Beads are really expensive and I'm at that point in my life where I'm obsessed with trying to do things on a minimal budget," she says.

"I tried dry pasta at first thinking that would work, but it was an epic fail.

"I tried cooking the pasta first and then squeezing that together into the balls and leaving them to dry to make beads."

Her pasta chandelier now takes pride of place above her bed (
Kennedy)

The upcycling obessed mum added: "I'll be on a run and look in people's skips and see if there's anything I can take, like a meerkat. It's become an obsession.

"I love upcycling things I find from Facebook marketplace. The house is full of furniture of all different colours now.

"We've got nothing to do at the moment so we might as well be painting and decorating.

"It's easy to sand down and repaint a cupboard, but building a chandelier out of pasta from scratch is definitely something new."

Note to self: load up on pasta next time you're in the supermarket!

Featured Image Credit: Kennedy

Topics: DIY, Life, Real Life