A Lightbulb Moment

I've been scouring the internet and catalogues to find the perfect light fixture to go above my dining table. Our main dining area is technically the breakfast 'nook' but it's plenty big to meet all of our needs. The room that is intended to be used as a formal dining room is the 'golden arches' room, which I am making a sitting room because I'm just not a formal dining person.

Today, I was looking on the Pottery Barn website and found this pendant:

16 mason jars' worth of incandescent bliss hanging from charcoal grey fabric of varying lengths, which are all affixed to a board (or metal that looks like a board). In short, perfection. I love the beautiful chandeliers, such as my friend's divine capiz beaut from West Elm, but it just wouldn't look good in my space. I don't want to be too 'country' or shabby chic, or rustic, but I feel like the simplicity of the pendant still looks polished and isn't too fiddly.

At least my taste is consistent.  They've staged it with the Tolix cafe chairs that I fell in love with when we ate at Brasserie Four, but cost almost a grand for a set of four...on sale!

Now for the challenge. It costs $400...before taxes...or shipping. Really? For Mason Jars hanging on cords affixed to a board? I am going to investigate to see if I could make one myself for a fraction of the cost that would still look as polished and professional. The tricky thing that I foresee, aside from having absolutely no electrical experience (minor detail) is that the lids aren't just mason jar lids, but galvanized metal...does that mean I'll have to whip out my long-retired, and barely developed, welding skills? My dad is actually a pretty awesome welder, so I may have to employ his skills rather than mine. Or maybe I can find some galvanized metal lids that already have some sort of hook attached to them? In the end, it would be super awesome if I can making something like this, that also won't cause an electrical fire in my house.

I posted the photo on my facebook page, and a friend said she'd seen a DIY post about it on a blog. I'm excited by that prospect, but also a little disappointed because I was hoping this would be a more original fixture, but I guess if PB is making it, then it's probably a little trendy. A quick google search turned up some ideas, but the author of this particular post hadn't actually done it yet. Oh! And maybe I'll try to hunt down some colored mason jars...me thinks some olive green glass would look pretty sweet! Either way, I'm on a mission; stay tuned.

UPDATE: Our Hiding Place has an awesome tutorial on a half-sized version of this that looks stunning and would better fit my space anyhow...for under $100. And, I already have the spraypaint, jars and can probably rustle up some wood, so it will cost me even less. Yay for me! This project, however, can't see the light of day until I do the tile in my bathroom. Boo!