illuminating

I found a set of lanterns at Goodwill when I found the Ikea Lamp.  At $2.99 each, they were a little steep for my blood to buy more than one, no matter how badly I wanted three.  Plus there were the cute running shorts and 99-cent frames to think of.  There was just no room for multiple lanterns.

Looking back on it now, I totally should have gotten more lanterns.  Can we say Christmas table runner?  Summer picnic decorations?  I hate myself right now.

Anyway, I picked up my single, solitary lantern when I got the lamp and still had tons of red paint left over.  As much as I like the silvery look, it needed a little punch of pizazz.  And as I had learned from the chairs...and the lamp...the red paint certainly added pizazz.

For this little redo, here's what you'll need:

lantern

Rustoleom paint

flat brush

 that's it.

1. I wiped down the lantern to take off all the Goodwill store grime and give the paint a clean surface to adhere to.

2. Next, I removed the glass.  This lantern had little prongs holding the panes in place.  With a little maneuvering, the glass came out and saved me a lot of headaches later.  If the glass doesn't come out on yours, tape it off thoroughly with painter's tape.

3.  I started painting the inside first, leaving the inside of the candle holder free of paint.  (Unless you choose to style the photo like me without a candle, no one will ever see it.)  Don't forget to paint the prongs though as they will be seen!

4.  Coat the outside with paint.  This paint is very thick and luscious.  Apply generously and it just kind of slides into place.

I let it dry for a few days before I went back to paint the handle.  It's summer in Florida, there's no such thing as dry air.  However, it did dry really, really well.  No tacky finish to it at all!  If I were to do this again, I would hang the lantern by the handle when I painted the roof