After months of deliberation, I finally decided on a location for my wedding. I’ve yet to make anything official, but hey, at least I have the idea.

It took a little convincing, since any venue that doesn’t include an arch on a sandy beach seems a little iffy in my eyes, but my fiancé and I agreed to do an outdoor wedding with a tent reception. Growing up, my dream location for a wedding involved a lush rose garden in an ivory palace on the edge of the seaside. I don’t seem to remember any tents involved…. Oh well.

My fiancé and I decided early on that since I didn’t exactly feel right about doing a beach theme in Missouri, we would make our theme “lights.” Yes, that’s right. Lights of all kinds: in the trees, on the ground and snaking around whatever decorations we chose. I’d love a big, sparkly chandelier in the center of my tent or hanging above the head table, but alas, I don’t want to deal with extension cords or wiring of any type.

Fortunately, Pinterest has the answer. (Pinterest is always the answer. If you ever forget an answer to a test question, try putting down “Pinterest”). I decided to make a reflective chandelier out of bubbles.

Ok, so they’re not real bubbles. Way to burst my — oh, never mind. You might not know this, but Christmas decorations are drastically marked down this time of year, and clear Christmas balls are the perfect things out of which to make a sparkly chandelier. If you buy the iridescent kind, I promise everyone will be marveling at your creation, and maybe even swatting at it to see why those bubbles won’t pop. (Translate: Hang it high.)

The best part is this is a really easy project and also perfect for an apartment. All you need is fishing wire, clear Christmas ornaments and a way to attach it to the ceiling (maybe a hook if your landlords will let you).

The main idea is to make this chandelier look like a cluster of bubbles that has floated to your ceiling. Your bulbs will come with a looped wire at the top where a hook would normally hold it to your Christmas tree. That’s exactly where you’ll want to attach some clear fishing wire.

For my chandelier, I’m taking long strands of fishing line and tying a knot around the ornaments’ wire loops, spacing them about two or three inches apart. (You can make your lines as sparse or as packed as you want.) I’m leaving a little room at the top so I can tie all the strands together.

My plan is just to drape all the lines around a ceiling hook or a nail so that the strands can hang down together and create a cluster shape. When you make your chandelier, don’t forget to vary the lengths of your fishing line so that the chandelier looks like a cascade of bubbles instead of a clump.

The best part about this project is that you don’t need hide an ugly extension cord. You can just drape it around a light source to make it shine. Be careful, however, about actually draping it _on_ a light source such as a lamp or overhead light bulb fixture. You need to know how hot those things actually get before you attach your chandelier, which will be made out of plastic. Heat and plastic don’t mix.

Have you ever tried to pry melted plastic off of carpeting? I have, and it doesn’t work. Worse, if your light source is mega, ultra hot and you happen to be standing under it, you might even have drippy melted plastic landing on _you_, which sounds like a fast way to earn a visit to the emergency room.

I’m pretty excited about my chandelier because it’s the first major vision I’ve had about my wedding as far as decorations go. You should be excited too because now you know how to recapture your favorite childhood moment in your apartment, while still being very DIY chic.

Who says you have to grow up just yet? Bubbles can be fun in college too.