Repurposing a Chandelier

“Your home should tell the story of who you are and be a collection of what you love”….Nate Berkes

First project:

• I have lived in my house of almost 13 yrs and this is what all of my light fixtures look like. I am not a fan of the brass and the white is okay but this is just did not fit with the rest of my house. I had a great idea of how to repurpose this item. I had to recruit my husband to get this baby down out of my 18 foot foyer. I am not a fan of heights! So this chandelier was so dirty  so it first needed a good cleaning and scrubbing. It does not see a whole lot of cleaning due to its height.

STEPS

1 A good cleaning, I used Windex and a wash cloth and good old fashion elbow grease.
2. I pulled off each plastic candle stick sheath and set those aside, I had plans for those.
3. I bought a brushed bronze spray paint made from Rustoleum. I bought this at Lowes ( but I have seen it other places) for approx. $7.99 a can,  I bought 2 cans for this size of chandelier.
4. I hung this outside under a work station my husband put up for me under an easy up in case it rained ( I live in Washington state)

5. I then covered each plastic candle stick sheath with scrapbook paper that I happen to purchase at the local craft store ( Michael’s) for 19 cents a page. I purchased 4 pages. I then measured and cut each piece in order to fit the sheaths and glued them down with regular Elmers glue.
6. The sheath had a brass top that I then painted with some enamel craft paint that I already had. I painted each one a white. If you don’t have any paint you can also purchase this for approx 89 cents a tube. These took 2 coats and I painted these and let them dry as I was gluing the craft paper down.
7. I purchased new bulbs because I was probably not going to get up on a ladder any time soon to replace them.

“TA DA”

Finished Product

Off Track

I have been off track lately feeling just overwhelmed with life in general unfortunately  my blog has been on the lower list of my priorities  I hate to admit it,  but honestly it’s true. I am certain all my friends out there can relate, those days were you just want to throw in the towel….

 

I am in some need of some organizational skills for my blogging. I would greatly appreciate the help or advice on how others stay on track. it seems like I was going along  just fine and then life happen and it just seems like my concentration and  motivation just went to the waste side.

I have a calendar especially for blogging but it doesn’t  quite work if I put things in it. So I ask if any of you use a calendar and if so how do you use it?

Thank in advance my friends!! I really appreciate the feedback.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5 Things Blogging has taught me so far….

I have not been doing this blogging thing very long and WOW it’s really been like studying a whole new career. I have spent these past 5 mo studying a few hours nightly from the experts out there. What I have learned so far is;

1. I am not technical, BUT I can be taught. I laugh at this statement now because this was huge fear of mine that actually held me back from pursuing this sooner. I may be slower than some, take more notes, ask more questions… but I’m HERE... I’m doing it!!!

2. Accountability to myself-What I mean by this is,  I have finally reached that threshold where I’m writing for myself. We all have accountability to our family, loved ones, jobs, children and such. This is a deeper sense of being accountable to our creative selves  and how we put out in there in the world..

3.   Networking- You are immediately adopted by a village. This village is amazing! With diverse backgrounds, overflowing kindness, fantastic advice,  with the support  you need. This village only works if  you are an active participatipate, you must also be giver not just a taker.

4. Blogging does not get easier if you blog consistently, this is a job. You are doing research on what your next topic is, new technology, networking, brands, marketing etc

5. This is FUN– I truly am enjoying this new world. I am seeing a side of myself I have never discovered before. This is a wonderful outlet, to release creativity and stress in a world where we have so much chaos going on.

I will end this post by stating I have made some great connections. When you try something new and completely out of your comfort zone it’s so comforting to have people in your corner that you know you can count on.Thank you friends!!!!

Tarnished Dreams

I ran across a silver dish in a box of stuff I had in storage and I looked at and thought..I can get that tarnish out with some elbow grease, No Problem! So after scrubbing and polishing my heart out I was no further than when I first laid eyes on on this dish, so in the good will box it went….

I have this box of disregarded items that I collect to pass on to others to use, this tarnished dish was on the borderline of going into the garbage. This box was sitting in my office and getting pretty full and just before I decided to toss it in to the trash I came up with an idea to up cycle it.( I hate to throw things away)

Paint seems to always do the trick. I have never painted something like this before so this was  really an experiment for me. I really like how chalk paint looks and I thought it was perfect for this piece. It wold also give it that shabby chic  look which I love!. I picked this really neat color it was called “POOL” which is a blue.

I bought this paint at my local craft store. I had never worked with chalk paint and let me tell you a little goes a long way. I applied 3 coats and it looked like I hardly used any paint. This 8 oz jar was only $5.00 and I really did not see any smaller options to purchase. Oh well,  I guess I will have this for another project! Well.. I thought it turned out pretty cool.  BUT ..I felt like it was missing something. 

I got out my stencils and that day I was thinking a lot of about dreams and this “pool” blue seemed very dreamy  to me so this is what I came up with ..

Very close but not quite done…My thoughts on this project was to maybe hang the dish up or place it on my desk to catch odds and ends…I was a bit nervous to place any food in it. Not sure what kind of chemicals I would be introducing to my body or others.

I went in the garage and was looking for some clear coat spray paint because I was bit nervous that the chalk paint would chip off the metal. The problem with some of our paint in out garage is things are not so organized and no caps to tell you the color. When I grabbed what I thought was a clear coat….it was silver clear coat..I had already applied it to the top..So here are the thoughts that ran through my mind…Oh SHIT!!!!, What the HELL!!, You know that does not look half bad…, I actually like the look.., Isn’t this something I  tried to cover up the silver to only apply some as a finish…well SO BE IT!!

Isn’t it funny how things turn out..I started with something I almost disregarded as trash and brighten it up to something sweet and charming.

Before

After

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What’s in the Box?

This box poured in  so many memories when I found it in my parents house the other day. It’s where my mother performed her magic on folks. My mom, the creative cat she was with her art and love of old artifacts was also a Beautician. So has fate would have it she provided all the up do’s and haircuts for our big Catholic family who just happen to  lived all the same town, practically the same street. Yes it was our own private commune.

I never paid that close to detail to the box until just the other day when I noticed her name carved in to the side and into the handle. Well it was her nick name Cindy..because Jacintia was just too complicated to say non the less. My grandparents had 10 kids in total, with the everyone’s first name starting with the letter J and if that wasn’t hard enough they had to be named after a patient saint. My mother was child #10😜

This box was carried in the 1960’s back and forth to the beauty college in town by my mom. There she was no beauty school drop out but received her license to cut, perm, bleach, color, and tint hair. Her supplies were neatly stored in this box and items clearly marked so they wouldn’t get lost.

The box had seen better days when I discovered it. It was banged up, marked up and the latches were a bit rusty.

 

The first thing I did was clean it inside and out, gently with some soap and water. I let it dry over night. I wanted to give it a fresh updated look, but I wanted to preserve the character also.

I purchased some contact paper and the color and pattern I thought would be the most attractive. I measured and cut each piece to fit accordingly. This was a bit tedious especially around the hardware but with a little fuss and an Exacto knife, I was able to make it perfect.Well almost…

I was conflicted with the inside. The bottom side of the box had the most wear and tear, So decided to recover that as well. The inside of top I decided to keep that original. I wanted a little History of my mom’s hand writing to show thru. The black piece of elastic you see across is where a comb, brushes or other items  to be stored. I couldn’t bring myself to remove that or even fix, straighten it out. I would commonly be her helper handing her whatever prop she called for and then securing it back in its place.

 

The hardware was  little rough looking so I removed as much rust as I could with a wire brush  painted the hard ware a black hammered color. I had some Krylon Super paint and primer spray paint that I sprayed  in a jar and used a small pain brush to apply it to the hard ware. This seemed to do the trick. I let it dry over night and this is the finishing product. Now what to put in it??

Meet and Greet: 1/28/17

Meet and Greet opportunity! I have met some great inspirational bloggers this way!

Pictures are worth a Thousand words

I had an extra frame that I really loved but the glass had fallen out and crashed into a million pieces. I had hung on to it because I loved the size of it and I really loved the texture and pattern of the frame. I also did not have the heart to toss it,  I know I could have got a replacement piece of glass, but I had this idea instead…

The frame was a brown color, to begin with and I failed to take a  picture before I painted it. Oops!!!. I bought a can of morning sky Chalky Finish spray paint by  Krylon and sprayed 2 coats on the frame and let it dry  over night, it turned out great!

I bought some twine at the local dollar store along with a bag of wooden clothes pin. This was very inexpensive and was just perfect for this project. I already had my trusty glue gun and plenty of glue sticks so I just went to work gluing the twine on the frame. The challenge was how tight or loose to get the twine. I started on the looser side and then I could always adjusted it later. Now you can you use wire if you prefer to, I liked the twine because it was easy to glue on and it was that different texture that I was searching for.  I also was not planning on hanging anything very heavy on these lines.

I hung a picture mount on the back of the frame so I was able to hang this up in my office. Yes I am still working on this bloody office lol. Some day it will be done!!

This is the finishing product. I decided to hang some old-time photos of the family. I thought it matched the motif and like I said in the beginning of this post…PICTURES ARE WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS…Thanks for stopping by!

Welcome Everyone

Aloha, Welkom, Benvenuto, Bienvenue, Shaloam, Everyone one loves a WELCOME…So inviting,  there is no hidden agenda, no pun, or joke you are suppose to get..it’s just simple….

I made this sign with pallet boards that I had stored ready for a new project.  I started  by selecting  two  boards that would fit well  together. I then secured them together by screwing them together in the back with some scrap plywood. This really took no time at all.

I purchased a stencil at the local craft store I picked a the size I needed and painted each letter with a black glossy paint I had left over from another project. I let it dry over night. I finished this project by coating it with a coat of quick dry polyurethane. I applied 3 coats, mainly because I was planning on placing it on the front porch where it was bound to get some hit by the elements.

 

 

 

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Keep that Chin Up❤❤

Sewer Singer Table with Some SASS

This gallery contains 3 photos.

So I found these very cool old rusty Singer Sewer legs at a garage sale for dirt cheap. There was barely a top to it . The top was in shreds and there was nothing I could do with it … Continue reading →

My reflection for today…