Ugly Light Fitting Repurposed

You all know and have seen these old ugly lights at Goodwill...they are a dime a dozen everywhere.
I bought two a veeeery long time ago, thinking I could make cool chandeliers out of them...

This was the one after my (unsuccessful attempt).

It used to be one of those copper colored lights with the glass shades.

I turned the "arms" up, sprayed it ORB, and added little black shades.

Somehow it still did not do it for me, so back in the closet it went, for about another year. 

When I saw what this very clever gal from Dreaming in Color did with her old light fitting, I just had to try it, too.

With the help of some blue spray paint, Gorilla Glue, and my grandmother's little desert plates, I transformed it into this....

The little bowl on the top is not glued on, so that it can either be used to hold mints, or teaspoons, or it can be removed to just use the plate underneath.

 And here it is with some yummy Baklava snacks...

The fake pearls just add a touch of whimsy.

Hope you like it!

Happy Haunting!

Joining all these parties

Mermaid Halloween Outfit

I'm sure everyone of you out there with young teenage girls know about the TV show, H2O . The one about the Mermaids? Well, of course my 11 year old now wants to be a Mermaid for Halloween. Heck, I think she even wants to be a Mermaid when she grows up!
I agreed, thinking, that should be easy to find...uhm, no!
She is too big for the kiddie outfits, and the grown-up outfits are a bit...how shall I put it....

I'll let you judge for yourself..
Not something I want my little girl to go Trick or Treating in.
Since she had her heart set on being a mermaid, I decided to try and make one myself.
Now, if you knew me, you would know that I don't sew. Dropped out of sewing classes not once, but twice! Just too tedious to my liking.
I do own a sewing machine, though, that I use from time to time to fix  or hem something.
All this to say that for me to decide to attempt something like this, was a sign of desperation!
I went to Hobby Lobby and got the fabric:

This for the tail part...

 ..and this for the tailfin.

I cut the tail fabric to make a point in the middle like this..

Sewed the back closed to make a skirt..

Folded the sheer piece to make a double layer, and gather stitched it , together with a strip of the blue satin to make one long, gathered strip.

 Then I just stiched this piece to the skirt part, and

Viola!

 O, yeah, and I put an elastic in the waist.

 Got the bra top at Savers. We might sew shells onto it..will see.

And don't worry, she won't be cold. This is Phoenix, remember? Kids have to stay hydrated on their trick or treat walk. LOL

I hope you could follow with all of the very technical terms I used,  but there you have it..a Mermaid Outfit for $16.00.

Happy Haunting!

Joining all  these parties

Frenchy Armoire

Hi Again..

Remember the "before" picture I showed you in my previous post? A "Preview of Coming Attractions" of sorts? Of course you do, you clever so-and so.

But just in case you wanted to see it again, here it is...

The lock was broken, and the doors would not stay closed.That was fixed easily enough by a trip to Ace Hardware. I did not worry about the lock. Just pried it off and filled the hole with wood filler.

I decided to try the Glidden 2 in 1 Paint and Primer , in black. After usinng the Cabinet Transformations kit in my previous post , I wondered how a regular deglosser off the shelf would work instead of sanding.

I think it worked fine ,  but I don't think I will do it again. I still feel a light sanding is better.

So, after two coats of black paint, a black glaze and  some sanding to distress, this is what it looks like.

 I really liked the french writing I have been seeing on quite a few blogs now, and wanted to incorporate it in this project.The door panels were so narrow, I couldn't do a decent design on them, plus , wouldn't it have looked funny to have it repeated four times?

 I remembered that I still had wall paper with french writing on.

I think it worked great..

  I also sanded and glazed the paper a little bit, to give it an older look.

Did you notice thehandles? I bought them a year back at the Habitat Restore.

One last look:

Before..             

After

Hope you like it, too!

Elrie's Bathroom Makeover

My friend Elrie asked me to help her fix up her guest bathroom a little. It only had this one basin with a cabinet underneath, a toilet, shower, and, of course, the huge builder grade mirror.

 The cabinet looked old and worn from too many hot showers and steam.

 The huge mirror and generic towel rail did nothing to make this space look special.

The first thing I did was to remove the mirror. Luckily she still had some of the same paint left that they used on the walls, and we could fill in the unpainted space behind the mirror, as well as other nicks and holes.

I liked the color...something between a taupe and a moss green. Very subtle.

We replaced the mirror with a smaller one in a dark brown frame.

Looks much, much better, don't you think?

I also added a little shelf that I had bought at Ikea a long time ago above the toilet.

It still needs a frame, picture , or something above, but we are still looking for that. I don't believe in just rushing out to buy something when it comes to accessories. I will be keeping an eye out for the right item...I'm thinking something metal, in a rusted look, maybe.

I had been wanting to try the "Cabinet Transformations" kit by Rustoleum, and this was my chance...

I chose the Espresso Brown, to go with the other dark brown wood pieces in her home.

Teh kit has everything needed for the transformation: deglosser (no sanding, yeah!), scrubby sponge to apply it with, color, glaze, and sealant. I just had to buy the brush to apply the paint.

 Now this looks a 100% better than the old cabinet, don't you think?

I did put the glaze on, even though the effect is subtle, it just makes the color come alive..
I also added door knobs.  I think it makes it look more classy.

New toilet roll holder...

..and towel hooks in place of the bar, and it looks like a brand new bathroom!

Sorry , I tried getting the whole bathroom in the picture to give you a better idea, but the place is too small, or my camera too cheap, to achieve that.

O, and guess what? All of the accessories, eg towel hooks, toilet roll holder, door knobs and mirror, were bought at...Wal-Mart!

This is what I'm working on now....

Come back to see the end result!

Love,

Joining all the parties on my Parties Page...

Dresser Love

I found this dresser at Goodwill the other day. I was looking for some drawers to go in my closet, and thought this would work. It was a little too long for the space, so of course I had to transform it to sell it.

This was after I already stripped to the top with paint stripper...

I started to just sand, but the gloss finish was so hard, it would not budge under my little palm sander.

The paint stripper did the job perfectly...quick and easy!

 The top  is my favorite part of this piece. So rich and warm.

I stained it with Mahogany stain after sanding with very fine sandpaper.

Right at the end I rubbed with some MinWax Wax.

 The body and drawers were primed with Zinzer 123 primer, and then painted with some Oops paint from Lowes I had. A sort of a off-white/greyish color.

 The hardest work of the whole project was the sanding/distressing after. Did not distress too much, but enough to give it a lived in look. 

After buying different handles at Habitat Restore and spraying it with ORB, I decided to go with the original hardware, as is. I just liked the look more. It added to the warm tone of the rest of the piece.

 O, and I wiped some glaze tinted with dark stain on, and wiped off to give it an older look.

 It looked a little too dirty, so I dry brushed some white over again.

 Perfect! 

 Sorry about the overload of pictures, but I am so in love with this piece..

 It is going to the new consignment store in my neighborhood,

L.E.A. Consignment . You have got to check it out if you live anywhere near Phoenix. It is a wonderful store with beautiful things..

Hu Uhm...they do sell my stuff, after all...   :-)

Hope you like this as much as I do!

What do you think?

Joining:

Everything but the kitchen sink

Motivated Monday

Cindy's Paint Party

http://www.perfectlyimperfectblog.com/2011/07/favorites-a-chair-makeover-and-all-things-furniture-party-6.html

..and the other parties listed on my parties page..