All I Want for Christmas are Some Ugly Candlesticks...

(Sing the title. It works!... Annnddd now it's stuck in my head...)

Happy New Year! It is now 2013, and a brand new year for brand new things... or for making old things new.

You'll never guess what I got for Christmas. Yes, that's right. My in-laws gave me some of the ugliest candlesticks I've ever seen. I can hear you now, "That's not very nice to say on the internet... or ever." But it's ok. Really. I asked for them.

You see, for awhile now, I've been wanting some chunky candlesticks to decorate our soon-to-be black and white-ish bathroom. I just haven't been willing to shell out the money for some lovely, designer label versions. I had been meaning, instead, to go to thrift stores and such to see if I could find some that I hated enough to paint, but loved enough to buy. I just hadn't found the time. So, when my in-laws asked what I wanted for Christmas, I remembered their own love for thrift shop finds and a light bulb clicked on over my head. I ASKED them for chunky candlesticks, with cool shapes, and made sure to tell them that I didn't care how they were painted because I intended to paint over them. Boy, did they come through. (And threw in chunky candles to go with the candlesticks, which made it even better.)

See how ugly they are? No offense intended to any of you who might have some exactly like these.

Here they are individually:

 

That last one isn't so bad, but the other two are. In any case, it doesn't matter how ugly they are or aren't: they all have great shapes. So, I spent part of my time off after Christmas turning these from drab to fab. I used Rustoleum Gloss Black spray paint with the little trigger, which makes things so much easier, but is a little more expensive.

Believe it or not, this all took longer than I thought it would. Somehow, whatever the candlesticks are made of did not like spray paint very well. I had a large problem with the paint just running off, and it wasn't mostly on the one I thought it would be (the tall stone candlestick). However, I just kept at it. I sprayed several coats, until finally it was all covered and dry.

Meanwhile, I worked on some other darlings I found at an antique shop shortly after Christmas.

I really like the gold ones. I love all the detail in their pattern. I decided that I wanted all of these to be silver, however. So... using Krylon Silver Foil Metallic spray paint, I made it so.

This can of paint did not have the handy-dandy easy-on-your-poor-fingers trigger. But I'm going to tell you a secret. Or, if you already know, then I'm going to tell you something utterly mundane that I should have discovered a long time ago. It's this:

This is a tool made by Rustoleum that fits over the normal nozzled cans of paint and makes them into a trigger can. Honestly, over the last few days, this baby has saved my life. I wouldn't have fingers left if it weren't for this guy. Amazing product! I wish someone had told me it existed. Now, I don't have to spend the extra amount for the cans with the trigger built in. This gadget was around $7 at Lowes. Go get one, or two, like I did.

Ok, back to our regularly scheduled programing:
I sprayed the antique shop candlesticks silver. They took considerably less time than the Christmas ones did. I love how they turned out.

Look at the detail... and how these can hold both chunky and tapered candles!

Now, back to the ugly Christmas candlesticks.
When they FINALLY dried, I placed them in their natural habitat, holding their own white candles.

Not so ugly now, are they? They make me smile. The mixture of shapes is what really does it for me. I'm so excited! And really thankful for in-laws that know me so well. Not only did they give me the gift of beautifully ugly candlesticks, but they gave me the gift of a project I can be proud of.


Inspired, yet?
I was. After finishing this project, and wanting desperately to use my trigger tool more. I resolved to tackle our bathroom window-dressing issue. You see in those last two pictures the temporary paper sticky blinds in our bathroom? Yes, I know they are ugly. And yes, they have been up for over a year now. I know. I'm terrible. But just wait... I'm working on it. For real, this time.

Happy Painting!