ugly chandelier to WOW!!

Ok this is kind of a tutorial but it's nothing new. There are millions of ways to paint an ugly chandelier. This is a little different. As usual I totally forgot to take a pic of the before but found this pic and it is similar to what it started out as. Not as nice and pretty but similar.

So I dismantled the whole thing and separated the tiers. Then I did a coat of primer and painted it white. Then I taped off stripes

This is where it got a little tricky as I was only using the one level and rewiring it from hardwired to plug in. The kits are easy to find check any hardware store and rewiring is not that hard. Just keep all the black together and all the white together. Wrap with electrical tape and cap it off with a wire nut. Which should already be in there, there are only two wires you will be switching out.

Before you wire it though spray paint the stripes and then peel off tape. Put pieces back together in any configuration you want. There's a threaded rod that holds it all together and lots of nuts. Play around see what fits best. So after you got it figured out weave your wire (plug) through the chain and into the rod and connect to your other wires. Black to black and white to white, if they are both white it's ok just make sure all the other wires are color similar. The electricity just needs to make a loop with the wires, if the loop is crossed it shorts out.

Now the fun part. Take two paint pens (black and white) and have fun doodling or coming up with a pattern. Sharpen your edges and just clean up the design.

Then just add a nice sheen of gloss with some spray lacquer.

Bam! instant pizazz!

This is looking down and this

is looking up

Since it's plug in and I reduced the size of it, it can virtually go anywhere.




The best part is I still have another layer to play with, think I'm going to make an outdoor candle one. Will post pics when it's done.

PS this cost me 2.99 for the chandelier and 8 dollars for the paint and found the kit on clearance for a dollar!

Party for teen son

Planning a party for my son, he's going to be 18. So what do you do to get a teen excited about it? My answer is "Retro Zombie Party" not extremely creepy, a little campy, and a whole lot of fun.
First prop I came up with are the dip heads. Based on the zombie desire to feast on brains. I searched for a way to have heads as my pedestals. Luckily I found these cheap foam heads online.  But you can also find them in any beauty supply for a pretty affordable price.

So we scooped them out to fit some bowls (we as me and my son) we got from WalMart four for a dollar.  We stuck with red and black for the colors.

Did a base coat and began to encourage the faces to appear. In different stages of decay.

I also picked up some dollar store platters and they fit perfectly. I think I will hot glue them to the platters.

I still have one more to finish, but was really excited how they came out. Actually one of them creeped me out. hahahah but my son loves them as well as his friends. I will be working on the props for the next few months. I have 6 more ideas to go, maybe more.

The party went well and with the added food it just was awesome.
 Gluing on the added accessories brought in the 3-D effect.

After the party I just popped out the bowls and popped off the trays and put them away for storage.

I think the salsa and guacamole were the favs but aside from brain munching the veggies were munched as well.

Old File Cabinets ReDo

So what do you do with an old, heavy, extremely loud filing cabinet? Continue to us it to gather clutter because do you really need to file that much stuff?

I say NO! How funny. The best part is they are free! Free is my favorite number, in case you didn't know. So now the problem....

I have two sons and a husband who often run over my pots with the lawn mower. So I think hmmmmmmm file cabinets could survive a nuclear bomb it should handle them. I rip out the drawers find a funky color to play off the army grey and spray paint it. Put some holes in the bottom and now I got me a giant planter that can survive anything!!! I think I'm going to plant a pizza garden. You know, tomatoes, basil, oregano, green peppers and stuff like that. So anyway I hope it inspires some one out there to re purpose something they usually through away. Paint is amazing!! ps. my taping skills need improvement.

I almost forgot the cat hats!!!

Wow, I can't believe I forgot the cat hats! So I was playing with crochet (because I really don't know what I am doing) and was making a purple and black striped hat when it occurred to me how much it look Cheshire catish. So I faked some ears and put them on and voila'. My daughter loved it so much I offered to make one for each of her friends. She picked out the colors and I made several more. So they really love them and they are the only ones I know exists. I do wish I could tell you how to make them but I do not know crochet lingo. I just go around in a circle until I end up with a hat. Hahahahaha yeah I know it sounds pretty pathetic but that's how I roll. :)

Wow! what an exciting few days!

So it has been busy few weeks and there are a few pics to show. First off I made a few more lanterns and stuck them in my tree. Aren't they pretty?












I have also been busy helping my daughter plan her 13th birthday party. She wanted to be the one to plan and she wanted it scaled down to just a small sleepover with 4 of her friends. So I made a giant 13 out of dollar tree foam board and duct tape. She loved it!!

She also let me design the candy table. Well actually it's our woodstove and I jazzed it up a bit with some pink and purple. We also (well, I mean me) found these bags with jammies and slippers and pedicur set already in it for like three bucks a piece last Jan. Totally stoked about that find and the girls loved them!!!! They had a great time talking, watching movies, painting nails and just being 13.

I am also working on helping my niece plan a party as well and hope to post a few pics of that when done.

Oh one last thing, and I am sooo excited about this!!! Some wonderful person who has an awesome blog is going to feature me. YAY I'm so touched I almost cried when I read it. Somebody likes me!!!! So check her out .....that is as soon as I figure out how to paste her link. Her blog is called "Ready Set Craft".