$1 Chandy Shades

Well I did it again.  Forgot to take the before picture.  I get an idea, and I'm on it before I remember "hey you should blog about this".  By then it's too late, it's either torn apart or transformed.  When will I learn?  Can you teach an old dog new tricks?

I redid a chandelier a couple of months ago and put it up on Etsy, but no buyers.  I then hung it above my desk, and decided I don't care if anyone buys it.  It works great and brings in the light and the funk.  I also realized it's pretty bright for a small area.  Sooooooo this is my solution.  Shades, "futures' so bright, gotta wear shades".  The chandy needed some shades. 

So wandering around the Dollar Store (again) and I find these small shades.  The fabric on them is great, if I was doing the sweet cottagey thing with a side of grandma.  But that's not how I roll.  I figured for a dollar what truly have I got to loose?   I bought five and brought them home and then torn them apart.  I really don't know how they make these things.  But I do know how to fake something pretty good.

I ended up with a piece of plastic and two metal thingy loops.

 Pretty simple, I used the plastic thingy to trace onto craft paper I thought would go great with the black and white chandelier.

After gluing it on I used a small piece of painters tape to attach the rings.  Not knowing how to make the really sticky ribbon they had used and knowing that it will be covered with the fringe anyway.  I decided to use black duct tape.   I love duct tape and use it any chance I
Re-attaching the fringe and popping them on the chandelier this is how it came out.

 One is off and the last is on.  I think they came out pretty good.
If I get tired of them, I can always tear them apart again and add a different style, color, medium, theme.  For a dollar it was well worth it.  Not sure I'd want to tear up something that cost me a lot of money.

Other half of old chandelier

Still working on making my deck pretty. Thought this would add a romantic touch. Hoping to surprise my husband with a outdoor dinner next week.

So this is the leftovers from the chandelier post I did a couple of weeks ago. I painted this one green and white and used some dollar store flowers to jazz it up. I clear coated the whole thing including the flowers. Now I just need to find some candles.

I'll post a pic when it is complete.

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!