Frugal Friday~

Welcome to this week's Frugal Friday. I hope you all had fun with yesterday's little contest/giveaway. If you haven't had a chance to enter yet, scroll down and give me your best guess. Contest is open until tonight (Friday) at 11:59 EST. I'll announce the winners Saturday (and yes, I'll tell you what that intriguing "thing" is.)

Now on to Frugal Friday...

I have a friend who just bought her first house...from her in-laws. Along with the house came various and sundry furnishings. My friend is grateful for the furnishings, but also wants to make the house her own.

One of the things she inherited was an etched crystal lamp. Pretty, but not her style. So she called me and asked if it is possible to spraypaint crystal. Well now...that's something I hadn't tried before. So our project was a bit of a gamble for us both. But guess what? It IS possible to spraypaint crystal!

Okay, I know if my mother were reading this she would be turning green - thankfully she's a bit of a technophobe, and doesn't use the internet - so I know there are those of you out there who think spraypainting crystal is sinful. If you are one of those people, please avert your eyes.

For the rest of us...behold...

Please forgive the fact that there is no "before" picture - and that there is still tape on the cord (at least you know the black overspray won't be there when the tape is removed). But since painting this lamp was somewhat experimental I didn't think about a "before" photo until it was too late.

Now the trick to spraypainting crystal is using primer. You must use primer. We found that out the hard way. But once we sprayed the lamp with primer, the color took just fine. Mission accomplished.

Oh, and my friend replaced the dated lampshade as well...but I asked her if I could have it. She might have thought I was a bit crazy, but I have plans, oh yes, I have plans. And I'll share them with you soon, I promise. (I already started deconstructing it when I took this photo...)

Now, it's your turn!

You know "da rules"...

1. Link directly to your post, not just to your blog.
2. Please link back to the Shabby Nest so others can enjoy the Frugal Goodness.
3. Comment, comment, comment. Show our participants "the love!"