Chandelier Makeover!

I'm excited to share my latest DIY project with you!

I've seen some cool chandelier rescues out in blog land, and have been wanting to try it myself!

Last week I took my frist trip to a thrift store in almost 4 months *gasp!* and found THIS beauty:

Isn't it GREAT?!  I was SO excited!  I probably looked like a crazy lady hauling this huge light fixture through the store, and towing two little ones with me.  This chandelier is pretty big; 10 lights.

The steps I took to a girlie chandelier:

• Do a "Pre Install" to make sure the fixture works!  You don't want to spend time fixing it up if it doesn't work! Light fixtures bought at a thrift store are always a gamble!

• After you make sure it will work......Remove the white covers

• Tape over where the electrical stuff is:

• Prime your chandelier (I chose Krylon primer.  Any primer will do)

• Spray paint it.  I went with Krylon's Ivory

• I then painted the white light covers (Krylon Ballet Slipper)

•  Make a cord cover to hide the top of the cord

• Reassemble the chandelier with the white covers, and cloth cord cover

•  I'm LOVING the contrast between the ivory chandelier, and the girlie pink light covers!

• I also loooove the feminine details of this chandelier....so many swirlies

•  Here it is, hanging up in Miss J's room

• I liked it, but thought it was still missing something.....Crystals!  This thing needed some bling :)

•  Miss J really likes her "fancy lights" as she calls them.

Just another BEFORE

and AFTER

Linking up at:

Under the Table and Dreaming

Mad in Crafts

DIY Project Parade

Sumo's Sweet Stuff

Keeping it Simple

Making the World Cuter

The Girl Creative

Metamorphosis Monday

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Domestically Speaking
Blue Cricket Design
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Thrifty Home
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Finding Fabulous

Thrift Store Fun

My discovery of thrift stores is a very recent thing! I never really went to them growing up, so I've had fun discovering them. I found some real treasures on my last trip!

First, I scored a REAL silver platter. No fakies here! The details on the edge are what really caught my eye:
This platter is pretty large-about 14 inches across. I had plan for this lovely! It only cost me $1.48 to boot! A little chalkboard paint, and my trusty helper Miss J were all I needed! I'm sure you've already seen this idea in blogland (such as here). But, I just had to do one for myself. I thought it was such a cute and versatile idea. I like making things that are multi-purpose!
First, tape off the edge with some painters tape.Next, use your chalkboard paint to cover the center of the tray (available at Lowe's)

Use a couple of coats to get the finish you want (mine took 2 coats). Let it dry completely between coats! When finished, use chalk to write whatever you want! I was thinking of using mine as a dinner menu for our kitchen. That way, I can write what we are having for dinner that night (when I remember to cook.....)
What do you think?

My second find were these AWESOME bottles! They were very cool and vintage-y looking.
The best part was that they were all 50% off . Since I was already at a thrift store, that meant cheap! My favorite is the short little square one. LOVE IT! I found a great idea here, to cover old bottles with twine. I thought that a few of these would look cute in a little grouping in my master bath. The process was simple.

Supplies Needed:
Vintage Bottles (I thought the stoppers on top were sweeeeet!)
Chunky twine or rope (the skinny stuff just doesn't look as cool)
Glue Gun
Scissors
(I mean, looking at the supply list, you can tell this is an EASY project. My favorite kind!)

Starting at the bottom of the bottle, start wrapping your twine. Use your glue gun every few inches to glue the twine to the bottle. After you get it started, you can use the glue less frequently. As you get to the top of the bottle, you'll need to use more glue to help the twine stay in place. You can add any decorative touches you want; stamping designs on the twine, or adding little distressed looking tags would be cute. Here are mine:
Cute, or not so cute? I think cute!