Happy Fourth of July and Finally a Project to Share!

I am sorry for disappearing without a trace for a week! I got warm fuzzies to find out that some of ya’ll missed me!!! :-) Everything is fine, just very busy and one day led into another with me thinking…I’ll post that tonight” which led to “I’ll post that in the morning”…ever have times like that???

I have been working on some things behind the scenes though! I wanted to have this done waaayyy earlier, but hey, it’s done in time for the Fourth!

It’s a solar-powered patriotic center piece!

It is supposed to hold candles! When I found it at the thrift store it looked like this:

I’ve been seeing everything in solar lately and I wondered how this would look “solarfied”. Candles are give a wonderful, mood-setting glow, but around here they get wet, knocked over ( kids and dogs) and there are never any matches to be found! Solar lights are just my style… “set it and forget it” …no wait, that’s the George Foreman. Oh well, you get the picture! I can do solar lights ONCE and then walk away knowing that they will come on when needed! I have several solar projects going, but wanted to get this one done first because it’s patriotic! This is what I did.

I took the black metal star-shaped candleholder from above and painted it primer gray. Then I went over the stare with gloss white. Next, I taped newspaper all around the star to keep it white.

I spray painted the alternate stars red and blue and the top red.

While it was drying, I took apart some Walmart  solar lights. They are on sale now for $2.50! I purchased some cheaper ones and they do not hold up to bumping very well. I’ve had 2 casualties already! :-( I took everything off except the “cap” . I put a piece of painter’s tape over the solar window and sprayed the lid of the light to match the star that it would be fitting into.

For the top light I wanted something different, so I purchased a set of 8 lights on sale at Walmart for $15. They have a bit more personality than the little ones. I took one of those apart and gave it the same treatment with the spray paint. When everything was dry, it got a coat of Gorilla Super glue to hold the lights in place!

 

The part of the plastic that sips down into the metal stake for the ground also slipped nicely into the candleholder! I had to cut that piece off of the top light because it was too wide. A hacksaw did the job.

The finished project;

I wanted to have my picnic table already to display this on, but it’s still covered in plants that need to go into the ground…maybe next week…

Here it is at night:

 

It’s much more fun in person! The 2 backlights are casualties, and I’ll be replacing them, so it’s not as bright as it should be either. Sometimes you do “get what you pay for”. ":-(

Wishing you a safe, happy and blessed Fourth of July!!