Chandelier Makeover

One of my summer projects (that I've finally completed!!) was to makeover this chandelier that mom found me from a thrift store (thanks mom!).  It wasn't that I didn't like the original black color, it was just that in my dining room black would be too dark. I decided to silver leaf the chandelier. 

 Here is me with the original chandy. First, I had to give it a good cleaning.

 An up close picture.

 Here is the start of the silver leafing. It is quite messy, but very fun. I wanted my chandelier to have some texture and a little distressed look to it.

 Here it is all silver leafed. I spray painted the top and chain/cord with silver spray paint.

 An up close look at the middle. Some of the original black shows through. I like how this looks.

 After sealing the entire chandelier with several coats of project sealer, I added vintage crystals from my stash. First, I had to punch holes in each of the metal bases. Then I hand wire wrapped each crystal (15 total).

 Hanging the chandelier was sort of a pain, but we managed (thanks again mom!). 

Overall, there were several steps in completing this chandelier, but I had all summer and was in no rush. I like the final results. Maybe I will add a few more crystals to the bottom. What do you think?