Chicken Wire Light Shade Covers

I've got a new joke for you.....Did 'ya hear the one about the blogger and the dining room chairs?  No?  Well I'm not telling it to you either.  Lets just say things are not going well with the chairs and my attempt to recover the chair backs.

So far I have hammered holes from the tacks into my kitchen counter, and burned a pillow case with the iron. 

Not only did I burn the pillow case, I also pulled up the wax and wood grain design from my dining room table top.  Don't. Ask.

If anyone needs to make a faux wood grain on Egyptian cotton, just ask, I'll be happy to share my technique.

To divert attention from whatever chair-redo hellll that I currently live in, I decided to finish up the dining room light fixture.


Before - typical little off white shades.  I think there are 9 of them.

My son helped by taking off the shades.  He thought he was taking those shades off and they would be put back on in a day or two. 

Seriously, doesn't he know me better by now? 

I decided it couldn't be that hard to rip the fabric off.   

Ah ha ha ha ha ..... was I wrong, what a pain in the asss that was.

For those of you keeping track, so far that is two misspelled swear words.

I forgot light shade manufacturers use some super powered glue made by NASA to hold the nose of the space shuttle on.  Can I use another swear word?

After helll froze over, the little shades were finally free of their fabric.  I wanted to reveal silver metal, I got white.  The industrial sort of vibe I was going for didn't materialize.

I left them alone while I waited for the next great idea for shade covers to pop in my head.  Except for this lone shade that I put back on to see if I wanted the bare white metal look.

It stayed that way, with one shade on for months.  Only one guest asked why.  The same one that asked why I have old door knobs in a basket in the bathroom.

No, I didn't like the bare look and no I didn't like the white. 

So after a decent amount of time went by - 7 months according to the time stamp on the photo - I spray painted them a bronze color.

I gathered the needed supplies, chicken wire, and pliers that would snip the chicken wire.

I wanted the shades to match the plate racks Brawn made that have a chicken wire back.

Really I didn't give a rat's behinder anymore about matching anything, I just wanted one freaking project to be done in the dining room before Thanksgiving, which in case you haven't checked your calendar is next week and I'm six chairs short of a load.

I pretended to measure the shade to chicken wire ratio, but actually what I did was just pulled it tight.........

.....clipped off the extra, and bent the chicken wire in place.

When I was done - and I timed it, two hours later - I liked how the shades turned out.

I need to get some cute bulbs since I can see them.

For now I like the rustic look, and when I get tired of them I can try something else knowing all it cost was my time.

The rest of the family walked through the dining room all evening and no one even noticed the shades.

Maybe they won't notice when they have to stand to eat turkey next week?

I've seen the light, and I've linked it up at the following parties:
Super Saturday Party @ItAllStartedWithPaint
Twirl & Take a Bow @ArtIsBeauty 
Project Inspired @Cupcakes&Crinoline 
The Scoop @CedarHillFarmhouse 
Inspiration Monday @RedHeadCanDecorate 
Tweak It Tuesday @CozyLittleHouse

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