Finial-ly something really easy

Not sure if you have ever seen these giant finials.  That are way beyond my price range and even if they weren't I still wouldn't pay that much.

Maybe I'm a reverse snob...sorry to all you wealthy people out there.

So anyway I was wandering in my local thrift store and came across this lamp but they wanted 10 dollars for it.  Still too much, that is until it went on sale for half off.  5 dollars?  I was on it, 

While standing in line (which wasn't easy, as this lamp with shade is almost tall as me) the lady in front

of me asked what I was going to do with that.  I knew she thought it was hideous, the expression on her face said so.  I smiled at her because I knew I had a diamond in the rough.  And told her I was going to tear it apart and make something else. 

See it?

I love that is has a solid wood base and the top is ceramic.

Well look at it now............

TAAAAAAA-amazing-DAAAAA!!!!! 

 Sigh 

I wake up every morning with this loveliness before me.

Thanks to 5 dollars, some heavy duty glue and white paint.

Nothing like a happy ending.

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!