I have, for the most part, quit drinking any form of alcohol. 32 days and counting (with one minor relapse.) I found myself with evenings at home seeking something to occupy my time. One can only watch the idiot box and repeat episodes of sit coms for so long when the need for something relatively intelligent and productive becomes apparent. My first project was, ironically, a wine/cocktail rack salvaged from CraigsList. My plan for up-cycling this gem (circa 1975) was to use it for my mass collection of jewlery boxes and necklace displays.
1. I started with hand sanding all areas and using a rubber mallet to place some of the bars back into the proper alignment. (Unfortunately folks, I neglected to take a "before" shot until I had completed the sanding portion...)
2. Next step was to tape off every other bar as I wanted it to have a multi-colored tone. Spray painting commenced in my backyard with a Rustoleum paint the color of "ebony" with gold metallic flecks.
3. Next I uncovered the taped sections and hand painted every other bar with a Martha Stewart brand gold paint called "Champagne". This took three coats but turned out quite beautifully. As an embellishment I used a hot glue gun to adhere pearls every five inches to give it s more Hollywood ""Glam" appearance.
The final outcome was not too shabby considering this was my first time undertaking a restoration project on my own. The lines of black and gold did not photograph very well, unfortunately, but in person the contrast works great. After moving my little masterpiece upstairs to my lair and strategically placing all the jewlery boxes in a beautiful display, I'm sad to say the pearls began falling off. Lesson learned: hot glue does not adhere well to painted wrought iron. However, it DOES pop off without damaging the paint underneath. So.. no harm, no foul.
cocktail rack........................................... $20
paint and materials................................. $12
pearls from an adventure in thrifting... $1.99
glue and gun......................................... $0.00
Overall cost of hands-on therapy............................................... PRICELESS
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