Every Thanksgiving I run into the same problem. I’ve painstakingly made (or purchased) an elaborate and beautiful centerpiece. Yet, when I go to put the main attraction (ie- the plethora of fat, butter, carbs, and turkey) on the table it starts to look like Walmart on black Friday – way too crowded.

In turn, I begrudgingly remove the centerpiece and resent it the entire dinner. (Thank you, Grandma, for ingraining in me feelings of shame and self-loathing when serving guests a meal without a centerpiece. The horror!)

So, when I went to write about the awesome ribbon chandelier I made for this shower, it hit me. What a PERFECT solution for a crowded Thanksgiving table!

Hanging Ribbon Chandelier/Centerpiece

What I love most about this project is its versatility. Obviously, your ribbon can be any color, shape, size, and length. You can choose to add cardstock pieces like I did, or not. Basically, if you can affix an item to a piece of monofilament, you can use it to create a hanging centerpiece.

Wouldn’t it be great to add pinecones & fall leaves to one for Thanksgiving. Or candy canes for your Christmas table. Fresh or silk flowers would be beautiful for a bridal shower or springtime affair. You get the picture.

You also have options for the hoop to which you attach the ribbon. I made mine out of the same 12 gauge wire I had left over from the 30th Birthday Tinsel Number project. This was great because it’s cheap, light, and pliable. With it you can make your hoop any size or shape. Other options include a hula hoop or a large quilting hoop. (Actually, finding a large quilting hoop at an estate sale for $1 was the catalyst for this project. But I’m going to use that for something else.)

Supplies:

• Monofilament Wire
• Ribbon
• Cardstock, hole punches, and scotch tape (optional)
• Hoop
• Any additional items you wish to hang

Step One: Make and/or cover your hoop. If you’re using 12 gauge wire like I did, simply form it into a circle and twist the ends together to connect. I didn’t think it was necessary to cover the wire, as I planned to use so much ribbon you’d hardly see it. However, if you are using a hula hoop or something you don’t want folks to see, you can either wrap it in ribbon or spray paint it.

Step Two: Add ribbon to your hoop. Initially, I made this waaaaaay too complicated. I tried using hot glue, double-sided tape, school glue, rubber cement, duct tape…basically any adhesive I could get my hands on. When I finally figured it out, it was a total face-palm moment. Just LOOP THE RIBBON AROUND THE WIRE! Duh?!? Can it get any easier?

Note: If you have cats in the house, be prepared to either bat them away constantly or lock them in another room while you’re working on this.

Step Three: Add impact items. I opted for some colorful cardstock to add a little oomph. Since there was soooo much color going on, I wanted to keep my add ons pretty simple. I used several different size hole punches to cut the cardstock and used scotch tape to affix them to the monofilament.

I found it was easiest to loop the monofilament around the hoop and then affix the circles to it. Depending what your item is, it may be better to make the string ahead of time.

Step Four: Hang. I was able to use some of the ribbon on the hoop to tie it to my existing chandelier. Doesn’t get much easier than that.

If you don’t have an existing chandelier or if your hoop is too heavy, try putting a few screweyes in the ceiling and hanging with monofilament.

It took some playing around (and an extra pair of eyes) to figure out how low/high I wanted to it to hang. For an intimate dinner, it would be neat to use monofilament to hang it and have it floating low.  Since I was doing a centerpiece under it on the table, I hung mine pretty high.

I think it turned out pretty awesome, and I got a ton of compliments from guests. I’d love to see your Thanksgiving versions. If you add this super easy project to your Thanksgiving to-do list, please send me a picture!