I have been drooling over these gorgeous Sea Urchin accessories since I first saw them at High Point last Spring.
Check out these gorgeous Sea Urchin chandeliers I spotted while at High Point!
Although I could have dropped about $100 to purchase one or two, I decided to make my own. I've seen a few tutorials out there involving a small styrofoam ball for the base, but I didn't like the thought of spray painting the styrofoam.
Then I found a great tutorial from The Hunted Interior. She found her original tutorial here.
It involves using oven-bake clay for the base instead of styrofoam.
I picked up my oven-bake clay from Walmart for around $5 and then purchased one pack of long Kabob sticks and one pack of shorter kabob sticks from my grocery store. They run about $2-$3 each. 
I cut the longer rods in half so that I would have a medium sized Sea Urchin, and used the shorter rods for a smaller Sea Urchin.
Following the same technique as shown on the Hunted Interior, I started by rolling a ball of clay and sticking the rods in a straight line in one direction.
Then I started breaking up the circle into pie slices to make sure the rods where evenly distributed all over the ball.
I kept breaking down the size of the pie pieces until I was satisfied with the coverage of the rods over the clay ball.
Then I simply followed the baking instructions on the back of the clay package. I baked mine for a long time since the clay ball was so thick. Around 45 minutes, checking it periodically. I wasn't worried about the wooden rods in the oven since they are meant for Kabobs. I knew they could handle the high temperature.
After the baking, I let them cool and then gave them 2-3 coats of gold spray paint. Some of the rods where very loose after baking. I used super glue to reattach the rods that where loose back into the clay.
(One tip I would suggest if you decide to try out this DIY is to make sure that the your clay ball starting out is large enough. The first one I made, the ball was not big enough to handle all the rods it had in it and started to crack when it was baking.)
Project Breakdown
-Oven-Bake Clay:$5
-Kabob rods, 2 packs of different sizes:$5
-Gold Spray Paint: $4
Total: $14 + 2hrs of work
I still have enough supplies to make one or two more, so I would say this project was money and time well spent!
LOVE this! Such a great idea! I def want try this!
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ReplyDeleteI've been wanting to buy these for awhile, but they always seem to be a little too pricey. I had the idea of trying to make my own, and thought I'd see what other people recco'd. My first thought was the styrofoam ball, but I like this idea much better! How did you cut the Kabob sticks? Did you use a scissors?
ReplyDeleteHi Mary! I used wire cutters to cut the sticks. It was a little tough and some of them would fly across the room when I cut them, but it got the job done! :)
DeleteSimply gorgeous! I love how this brings glam, contemporary style, and coastal chic together! Thank you so much for your efforts in creating this well instructed tutorial.
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