Candle Stands

It has been a busy summer, and it's not over yet! For one thing, we have finally painted the ugly behemoth of a fireplace in the corner of our living room. We have a long room, with the dark brick fireplace in a corner. This fact has made the long room feel terribly off-balanced. Painting it white brought so much peace to my vision. :) I LOVE this room now! (Does anyone need inspiration about what one can of paint can do?) I wish I had "before" pictures, but I have always avoided taking pictures of this thing because there has been no appeal to me in looking at it, so why would I want a picture of it?! Well, no more! I love this corner now!

But this post is not all about what white paint can do to a heavy fireplace.

I want to show you the candle stands that adorn the fireplace.

Some of these did indeed begin life as candle stands, but all but one of them got a coat of paint and a little more work. The one on the far right started out life as a brass lampstand some 20+ years ago, and was bought for $3.00 at a thrift store.

Here's how to achieve the look:
1. Re-paint with Krylon spray paint your choice of color. (This transformation from brass to -- in my case green or aqua -- is stunning all by itself. I could have left it plain and been plenty happy. But I wanted a more antiqued or textured look, so continued on with the next step.)
2. Take a dry (or slightly moist) non-shedding cloth and pour onto it some acrylic paint. I used a dab of medium brown, dark green, and navy blue. Slap it on the stand. Rub and rub and rub till you get the look you want. You'll have to work quickly, as acrylics dry quickly. If you don't like the look, take a damp cloth, rub it off, and start over. Once you're satisfied with the look,
3. Take a small, stiff paint brush and dip it in some black acrylic paint. (I used my kids' art brushes -- nothing fancy.) Practice flicking paint using your thumb brushing firmly against the tip of the brush. Paint will fly, so do this outside or with a well-protected surface. Random dots of black should cover your candle stands when you're done.
4. Spray paint at least 2 layers of high gloss glaze over your finished work. This will not only protect your acrylic layers, but will also give a nice finished look to your candlestands.

By the way, with my brass lamp stands, I removed all old wiring and weights from inside. I ended up with two separate pieces because of this. I then found (also at a thrift store) some separate brass candle bases and painted these correspondingly. I then glued (with hot glue gun) all three pieces together.