You'll shoot your eye out! (I hope...)

It all started with a beautiful blue mosaic gazing globe, like the one pictured here: (only on a different pedestal and in my yard, not a beautiful lush green place)

It was sitting out in my front rose garden (now doesn't that make it sound pretty?), just minding it's own business, when suddenly, out of nowhere and for no particular reason that I'm aware of, a neighbor kid shot it with a bb gun. It didn't have a chance to survive. It was knocked off of it's pedestal and crashed to the ground where it shattered.

During the mourning of my beloved gazing globe, I vowed that whatever I replaced it with would be durable enough that if shot again, there would be at least a small possibility of the bb ricocheting off of it, and hitting the kid holding the gun. I know, I know... But even a *tiny* possibility of that happening would make me feel better. Also I didn't want to spend much money on a shooting target.

I set out looking for a DIY project that would result in something that met my qualifications. My first step was bowling ball shopping. It took months for me to find them, but the day I found 3 (gasp) bowling balls at DI for $3 a piece felt like a dream. Yes of course I bought all 3 even though I only had one pedestal. Not everything I do is rational. I'm okay with that! :)

This blue beauty, Frank, was my favorite. I kid you not, it says Frank right on it! Didn't seem quite right to call it anything else anymore.

I found a blog that had all sorts of great tips on how to glue flat glass gems to a bowling ball and make it look beautiful. Those were the days before Pinterest though, and since the vision was already in my head I didn't save the link. The credit for this goes to someone else though, just keep that in mind.

I wanted to use clear gems to let Frank's blue hue show through, and decided that clear silicone would be my best bet as an adhesive to do that job. So far, that was a good idea. I'm hoping it stays that way.

Thanks to the dollar store, these gems were cheap, but the color choices were limited to green, blue and clear. This glittery gold bowling ball, named Goldie (for lack of her name stamped on it) was nice enough looking, but not quite what I was looking for. I chose a mix of green, and opalescent gems, and hoped that some of the glitter would show through, but not too much of the brown.

I spent days in the fumes of silicone, tediously setting each stone in a bed of goo. I loved it. But things would come up, like dinner, animal escapees, and running out of gems. Really, had I been prepared enough, this would have been a pretty quick project. Oh! Also, when I got to the middle of the ball, the gems kept sliding down, so I had to do one side, and let it dry before I could work on the other.

After they were finished and completely dry, I couldn't wait to put them on my pedestal. Okay, I put them out there several times during the process to make sure I liked the effect I was creating.

I am thrilled with the results. I decided to set Goldie out for the time being, as I'm still too in love with Frank to risk him being shot in his first week outdoors. He's sitting on my fireplace waiting for me to finish his own pedestal and find him a home in the backyard where it's less dangerous (or so he thinks).

Now, I've got a new problem. 2 finished orbs, one black bowling ball (that I'm considering covering with pennies thanks to another Pinterest find), and an added blue one that I found during a different trip. Only one pedestal. They will all deserve a place of honor in my gardens at some point. I need to find a cheap DIY pedestal idea. I feel like the mouse in "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" a lot of the time.

My Bright Idea

A friend of mine recently introduced me to a new favorite website, Pinterest. There are days that I find myself looking and pinning and dreaming and wishing. There are other days that the things I've pinned actually inspire me to do something fun and new. This was one of those days.

I've been finding myself staring at my kitchen chandelier, thinking that it needs to be changed for a while now. I wanted to get rid of the brass (and possibly also the dust) and replace it with something that I liked better.

I forgot to take pictures of the fixture before I got it taken down, so here's when I remembered to start documenting my project with photos.


Funny, after taking it down, dusting it, and cleaning it up good, it doesn't look half as awful as it did before...


...It took quite a bit of brain power to figure out how to hang this up outside so I could paint all sides of it, and keep the chickens from trying to eat it at the same time. I settled for hanging it from the kids swing set. Worked like a charm!

Almost immediately, I fell in love with the new color. Had my neighbors not moved the week before, they probably would have enjoyed watching me spray and grin, and spray and grin.

In this picture, you notice how the paint self-dimples to make it's own hammered finish. I've never enjoyed watching paint dry more than I did this day!

After finishing the paint job, waiting for it to completely dry, I decided to try an effect that I saw on Pinterest to make the white plastic tubes look just a little bit more like real candles. I wasn't sure I could pull it off, so I practiced drizzling hot glue down the sides of a toilet paper tube before I committed. Yes, the kids thought I was crazy. Please don't confirm their suspicions for a few more years. ;)

I was still a little wary, but jumped in with the glue gun anyway. Seriously, this chandelier has been bothering me so long that I didn't think I could make it look any worse.

I was pretty happy with the results, just adding the glue, but after a few coats of white spray paint, I was feeling pretty impressed with myself.

This is the can of Rust-oleum hammered finish spray paint that I used. Sometimes I tend to get carried away with things when I love the results of the first attempt. We'll see how many other pieces of random things in my house end up covered with this paint. (Yes kids, I know that this one is totally out of order. I tried three times to move it where I wanted it, and when it didn't work, I moved on so that this post would actually get finished.)

Anyway, here's a closeup of one finished arm of the fixture, to show the dripping "wax" detail. Have I mentioned I love it?!

And here's a similar picture with the light actually turned on. (Nope, can't look at this picture without seeing the blurry white spot on the bottom and wondering where that ghost came from! Gotta stop watching scary movies...)



And here's the entire finished project. I can't stop looking at it. That could have something to do with it's proximity to my computer chair... but whatever!


I am thrilled with the results, but wonder if I should try something more bold next time. I think Hannah's room would look pretty cool with a bright red chandelier, blinged out with crystals. Hopefully someone else got tired of their old brass fixture, and sent it to the DI for me to play with.

As I finish up this post, and look at the final picture, I can't help but wonder what that wooden curtain rod would look like with a coat of hammered finish brown paint...