RE:furbished

I am horrible about taking "before" pictures. I wish I had a before of this project because this was an extremely dated light fixture. I have people in my life who donate items to my family. I'm not sure if it's because they feel sorry for me, or if it's because they know I might turn it into something beautiful. I don't mean to boast...not at all, but I am really thrilled with this one! So, my mom's boss gave me this light fixture. Well, this is a similar one that I found online, so picture this in shiny brass:

So, what to do with this. I had a perfect place for this in my entry way. My house turned 104 this year so I have amazing high ceilings! That is one huge benefit of living in an old fixer-upper. But, to be honest, shiny brass is not.my.style at all. At the same time, when people give me things, I love to use them if possible. What I love to do more is to fix them up so much that they wish they had thought of it before they junked it. I came up with this:

I wish I could get a picture of it when it is dark because the colors shine so prettily on the ceiling. So, ready for the step by step? 1. Take the fixture all apart and spray paint the inside parts. (The steel tubing, the part that holds the bulbs, etc.) 2. You could tape off the glass and spray the outside globe if you wanted, but I think it's less work to buy a silver paint pen and just hand paint it. It didn't take long at all. 3. Use glass paint (I got mine in the children's craft section at Wal-Mart, but any craft store sells this in various colors) to paint the glass. Be sure to use actual glass paint because that's how you get the "stained-glass" effect. 4. I used the "dab" method. I just dipped my brush in the pain and dabbed it on to give it more of a frosted look. Play around with it and see what you prefer. You might also notice that I left the beveled part of the glass clear so more of the light can actually come through. 5. Let dry. 6. Put the light back together and hang! Your kids will love the colors on the ceiling!