DIY French Sconce from 80s Brass

How to turn a dated brass piece into a Restoration Hardware-inspired French sconce using paint samples and jewelry beads.

Apparently it’s always Opposite Day in my world.

(Did you ever play Opposite Day as a kid? I always argued with my little brother that if it was Opposite Day then it would be the opposite of Opposite Day, which is Not-Opposite Day. Mind blowing philosophy from an 8 year-old, I know.)

Anyways, apparently in my opposite brain, I paint non-brass things to look like brass and brass things to look like something else.

Case and point are these thrifted brass sconces I found last week for $3 each.

I’ve painted a light fixture to look like aged brass, white mirrors to look like aged brass, but when you give me actual aged brass, I go, “Nahhh… paint them different.” Makes total sense.

So for this month’s Trash to Treasure Tuesday, that’s just what I did. (You can see what my other T2T blogger friends transformed at the bottom of this post too.)

I’d been searching for some pretty French sconces for our blank dining room wall to go on either side of our window, and I thought these $3 ones could really be something.

Supplies Used: (Some affiliate links are provided below.)

• Brass sconces (If you don’t have any luck in thrift stores, they’re usually all over eBay.)
• White paint (I used a sample of Fusion Mineral Paint in Raw Silk.)
• Gray paint (I used some leftover Fusion Mineral Paint in the color Sterling.)
• Dark wax (I used Annie Sloan Dark Wax.)
• Medium sized artist brush
• Strand of glass teardrop jewelry beads (or these could work even better)
• Fishing line or jewelry wire (if using regular jewelry beads instead of chandelier pendants)

1. I painted the sconces all over first with two coats of the Fusion Mineral Paint in Raw Silk and let dry.

2. To add more depth, I dry-brushed on top of the dried white coat using the Sterling paint. (If you aren’t familiar with dry brushing, just dip the tip of your brush in paint, wipe off any excess on a dry paper towel, and brush the “dry” brush on the sconce. It adds a little aging effect.)

3. Then, to make them look antique, I dry-brushed with the dark wax.

4. Just to add a little extra detail, I cut a strand of glass teardrop beads and painted them individually using the same process I did on the sconces- white, gray dry-brush, dark wax dry-brush. (Or if you wanted the sconce to look more glam, leave them unpainted.)

5. To attach the beads to the arms of the sconce, I threaded the beads with some jewelry wire and tied them onto the sconces. I snipped the excess wire once they were attached.

And ta da!

I already had all of the paint and wax leftover from previous furniture projects, so all I had to pay for were the sconces and glass beads. $8 for antique French inspired sconces isn’t too bad, huh?

They look way more expensive than $8, if you ask me.

They added the perfect subtle detail to the walls on either side of our dining room window.

I still plan on taking down the existing dining room chandelier for something else, but we’ve been rather distracted with the kitchen refresh, living room refresh, and nursery planning lately.

Maybe I should just find a brass one and paint it like the sconces. Ya think? Or maybe stick to aged brass. See? Here I go again.

You can see the rest of this month’s Trash to Treasure transformations below for more thrifty ideas:

(Clockwise from top left):

Prodigal Pieces | Confessions of a Serial DIYer | Girl in the Garage | Artsy Chicks Rule

 

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