I don't think I will be using black paint on this any time soon. Now what did I do with the brass door hardware?
From log house to farmhouse. Farmhouse to townhouse. Townhouse to apartment house. Apartment house to crack house. Crack house to our house. Our house to our home.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Another Shellac Moment
I wish I took a BEFORE picture of this light fixture. We bought it for $6 I think and it used to be painted beige with some highlights of green and pink airbrushed in certain spots. I might try to use it in our Gothic Powder room that I am going to tell you all about in the next installment. My original plan was to paint it black and gold. When I got all the paint off it I saw that it was made of pressed brass so I tried something that I read in our 1909 Book of Household Discoveries. I mixed "Gold Varnish" using 1/4 teaspoon of turmeric in a half filled babyfood jar of thinned clear shellac. This gives the shellac a yellow translucent hue. I applied this "Varnish" directly over the brass in three coats and got this
That's amazing, especially when you see what the original looked like. I just happened to be browsing antique lighting on ebay and found one like yours selling for $24. I wasn't trying to find it, honest. Anyway, here is a link to what it looked like originally if anyone is interested.
ReplyDeletehttp://cgi.ebay.com/ViNtAgE-BRASS-CEILING-LIGHT-FIXTURE-DECO-SHABBY-CHIC_W0QQitemZ110179643706QQihZ001QQcategoryZ63516QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem#ebayphotohosting