Hanging Ladder with Lanterns

I've been so excited for this post! A few weeks ago Mr. Husband and I were at Scottsdale Fashion square getting ready to spend some gift card money at Crate and Barrel (I already feel like a trader, but we got some awesome stuff for our pantry decorating... that post coming soon!!)... Well, Pottery Barn is right next door, and I couldn't resist going in. I saw this and just. about. died.!!!

If you can't tell what that is, it's a antique ladder with twigs on top. It was just so amazing!

So then I kept walking around, and died again. I loved the lanterns hanging from the jute.. sooo Pottery Barn-ish!

So I thought to myself "D, what can you do to have both of those elements without making too many new holes in your new patio ceiling (seriously, our house was just done being built three months ago), and without making Mr. Husband uber mad...."

Well, let me show you :)

I first looked on Craigslist for an old wood ladder, but figured I could just make one myself and get exactly what I want. I went to Home Depot and spent less than $5 on wood (the ladder is 6 ft. long). I then started assembling the ladder in the craft room, started staining, and then got a bit too nervous about staining the wood in there, so moved to the garage...

While the stain was drying in the garage, I started working on my lanterns. I just got married 2 months ago, and along the aisle in the church I had shepherd's hooks with lanterns lit up. I tried to buy stuff for the wedding that I new I would be able to reuse again, and I'm so glad these lanterns made the list!

They were white, so I spray painted them black...

These are the hooks I used to hold the fishing string (to somewhat give the ladder the illusion it is floating). Here's the deal... I am in Arizona, and for the next few weeks we'll probably be getting some amazing monsoon storms. So I needed to make this "ladder hanging thing" in a way that would allow me to take it down easily, should I need to. I also attached the lanterns with "S" hooks, so I could take them down right away if I need to.

After the stain and top coat dried, I took some nice twigs I found in this dumpster, dried them out and stapled them to the top... Everyone finds awesome furniture on the side of the road, and I find tree trimmings... I'll take what I can get !!

I had finally finished and was ready to hang it up, but as expected, we had crazy winds... So I opted to wait one more day. It killed me!!!

But finally, here she is!

The whole project cost me less than $20, and I would say it's well worth it!

Linking up to CSI's Pottery Barn Challenge and My Backyard Eden!