$1 Painted Wall Sconces

Does anyone else out there have that one item that when you see it on sale (or not!) you just can't seem to pass it up?  For my mother, it's lamps.  For me, it's candlesticks.  I don't know if it's the straight lines or the promised candlelit ambience that they represent but I love candlesticks, candelabras and wall sconces.

You can imagine how excited I was when I found these wall sconces for $1 a piece!  Never mind that they were made of some sort of resin and had that awful brown/black-flecked look, I couldn't pass them up.  Visions of painted sconces were already dancing in my head.

The sad brown and gray wall sconces.

I painted them with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Old White.  Mostly because this meant that I wouldn't have to prime them and also I was painting a dresser at the same time in the same color so it was just too easy to slap some paint on these sconces while I had all of the supplies available.

After the coat of Old White I lightly hit the edges with some gold leaf paint I had on hand, distressed them with sandpaper and then hit them with a light touch of Annie Sloan dark wax.

Basically it was a complete experiment for me but I figured there was no way I could go wrong on trying different things on my $1 sconces!

I'd say that is quite an improvement, wouldn't you?  And all for $2!  That makes this Cheap Mama a very happy Cheap Mama indeed.