Paris Gray Mini Chandelier

I was surprised to find the exact same vintage chandelier twice! remember the first one I found and painted turquoise (click here to see it)?  I bought the first one for $5 and this one was only $3 at a different yard sale.

I could not find the before pictures of the second chandelier, but since it is the same as the previous one, here is the picture of the first chandelier before I painted it turquoise.

It was just a plain, little, iron chandelier, when I found it.

This morning, as the sunlight was brilliantly filtering through the trees, I decided to take my finished, crystal chandelier on a nature hike down to the creek for a little photo shoot. 

I used Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint in Paris Gray to start the transformation.  I had already primed the chandelier before I bought the Chalk Paint, but I do not think there is a need to do that because Chalk Paint adheres to metal.  I used a little bit of dark wax over the Paris Gray paint to give the chandelier more depth.

I ordered 30 vintage crystals for a vintage chandelier I am redoing for my kitchen.  I had a few extra that I hung from the center of this mini chandelier.  I ordered the crystal strands from Gallery, which is the cheapest place I could find them online.  

I just love how chandeliers look hanging outside, from tree branches.

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French Gray Wall Sconce

Our deck overlooks a creek and I want to make it a beautiful place to sit and relax, while listening to the water.  My aunt Susan gave me this lovely, cement urn last time I visited her cottage.  Not much will grow on my deck because it is so shaded by trees, but at least ivy thrives here!  I want to find a couple of french bistro chairs at a yard sale too.  I might use this old, shipping crate as a table, once I find the chairs.

View of the creek from my deck

Hopefully, I will have a deck reveal to show you soon!  I have also been collecting old lanterns for evening lighting and I found this scrolling, iron, wall sconce at a yard sale for $2.

The finish was green when I bought it, which wasn't bad except for the fact the my house is painted light green too.  

I painted the wall sconce a French gray and then painted a brown glaze overtop.

 I love the scrolling iron and the leaf details of this candle sconce.

It is just a subtle difference, but I like the pale gray so much better.

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Crowns, Jewels and Sheet Music

I bought more of these tall candles from the grocery store that I decorated for Christmas. I could not pass up this $1.50 candle sale! This time I copied my vintage sheet music onto cardstock and then printed crown clipart, from The Graphics Fairy, over the music. I used modge podge to wrap the paper around the candles and then added glitter paint to accent the crown details.

I used a copy of this vintage print for another candle. I altered it by adding a mini crown and lettering.

The last two candles were the ones I had already covered in brown, vintage sheet music for Christmas. I took off the Christmas greens and added burlap and vintage, pearl earrings to dress them up.

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Window Wreaths and Christmas Candles

I finished my last Christmas project this morning - fresh wreaths for my living room windows (they smell sooo good)! I picked up a couple of wreath forms for 30 cents at a thrift shop. I simply wrapped them in fresh greens and cut a strip of red and white toile fabric for the wreath hanger. I love that wreaths are so simple, yet add so much festive charm.

Yesterday, I found these slender jar candles at the grocery store for $1.50 each! I wrapped them in my brownish, vintage sheet music and hung vintage crystals from an old chandelier.  To finish them, I added fresh greens with berries.

Best wishes to you and yours this Christmas.  May your days be merry and bright!

 

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Brass Candlesticks Revived in Aqua

This old pair of brass candlesticks came from the same attic sale as this pair. They had been sitting out in the rain and were discolored and splotchy when I came to their rescue. I am sure they would have been destined for the trash, if I had not come along at the right time.

I love thier shape and thier tall stature. After painting on the Bullseye prmer, I painted them gray and they just looked kind of bland to me. So...I mixed some turquoise and cream craft paint to make a creamy aqua color. I gave it a couple of coats and distressed the edges.

Ahh...Much better!

Paris Apartment Inspired Accessories

Take a look at Betsy Johnson's New York "Paris" apartment courtesy of Apartment Therapy. It is sooo pink! It is a little too much, but it is so girly and I love it. My tween niece, Sophie, is decorating her bedroom in Paris apartment style too and it inspired me to work on some pink and girly home accessories today.

I picked up these weathered brass candlesticks at an attic sale for $1 and they had seen their better days.

I wanted to give them a romantic and feminine makeover. After primering, I painted them the palest pink and rubbed all the edges with antique gold rub 'n buff. I finished each by gluing on a vintage, pearl and gold button cover.





These wooden plaques were 5o cents at a thrift shop and I have held onto them for a while, not sure what would become of them. I painted them with white and pink stripes and then stenciled a black fleur de lis in the center. I sanded the surfaces to distress them and then used dots of glitter paint to accentuate the fleur de lis. Mr. Rubbish screwed on white hooks for me and they are ready to be hung in a Paris apartment style room. I think they will be perfect for Sophie's new bedroom!

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French Bow Wall Sconce

I found this vintage candle holder wall sconce for 75 cents. It was tarnished, brassy and in desperate need of a makeover, as you can see from this photo:

I love the slender, gracefulness of this wall sconce and, of course, the lovely "French Bow" on top. I mixed some of my turqouise acrylic paint with white to get a softer, robin's egg blue color. After the paint dried, I rubbed the edges with gold Rub 'N Buff. I think this soft blue looks really pretty with gold edges.

Here it is hanging on the wall (a little crooked...oops!) at the shop with some white, tapered candles. After its update, it is all ready to be loved again!