The Hand Me Down House: Mod Podge Strikes Again

So this is another one of those "use what you have" projects. I always have left over "parts" or supplies from other projects that I do. I suppose most people would just throw away something they didn't use....but not me. I CAN'T throw things away ... I might need to use that sometime within the next 20 years. Is this how hoarding starts??? Let's hope not. I don't want to end up with a maze through my house full of "I might use this" finds.

My left overs today are from my favorite project so far......the Pottery Barn Light.

Are you tired of hearing about this light yet? I can't help it! I had so much fun transforming that light. And don't tell -- but sometimes I go turn it on just to revel in it's knocked-off glory. When I originally got the light (thank you Craigslist!!), it had a lantern-ish glass case around it.

I knew I would be able to use the glass case, but until a few weeks ago, I hadn't decided what I wanted to use it for. I figured it would make an awesome outdoor lantern. I honestly thought this was such an original idea...but sadly, it's not. Since I had my idea I've seen other crafty bloggers turning their outdated lights into PB-style lanterns. So here's my twist on it.

Here's my light part that was left over (yikes - dust! It was out in the garage....I promise!).

I took my Mod Podge/Food Coloring mix and slathered it on my new lantern. For those of you curious about the exact mixture, I don't have one. It's a "I-think-this-looks-good" method. But if I were to guess, I would say I use about 1/4 cup of Mod Podge and 5-7 drops of neon blue food coloring and 3-5 drops of neon green food coloring. You'd be surprised how far that 1/4 cup of Mod Podge will go - so use it sparingly!

It's a little scary looking at first, but it definitely turns out in the end. The next step was to stipple the Mod Podge with a paper towel, so it looks like this:

Then I tried something a little different. I baked it. Yes, that's right I put my lantern in the oven. I saw this on Autum's blog, Creative Little Daisy. She has some detailed instructions on baking the Mod Podge mixture.

I baked mine at 175 degrees for about 25 minutes until it looks like stained glass.

NOTE: The regular Mod Podge is not water-proof. Sooooo, if you are going to use whatever your Mod Podging for outside - get the Outdoor Mod Podge - that stuff will stick! :)

Next I painted the gold "trim" on the lantern black - I painted it by hand becuase I was getting really frustrated with taping it off. But I'm sure if you had more patience than me you could tape off the gold and give it a good spray-paint. That was it.....and here she is!

I have to say, I certainly got my money's worth out of that Craiglist chandelier. And the money-saving projects I got out of this one ugly chandy have far outweighed the weird looks I got from the gal I bought it from.