A Candle in the Window

I guess there are worse things to be addicted to than old stained glass windows--they're not harmful to your health like drugs and cigarettes, and they don't make you fat like too many TastyKakes.

But they don't just slide into the decor like another vintage camera or ice cream scoop.  They are a direct line to a new project.

Doug and I already had four stained glass windows in our house before this Saturday's trip to Strasburg, Penn. We were NOT in the market for another one. A new picnic tin? Sure.

A cute little syrup container with a green top? Why not?

But somehow, another window, caked with dust and leaning against a stone wall in one of our favorite antique barns, called to us as we shopped on Saturday. We both fell in love with the design--a simple candle in the middle of a multi-paned assembly:

We really didn't know where we would put it, and we spent the next 10 minutes trying to talk each other into and out of buying it. It was priced at $175, but when our offer of $130 was accepted, we walked out with a new treasure.

And a new project.

Doug suggested that we could move the wooden blinds on the double window over the couch in our living room and hang it there. That seemed like a good idea, so he crafted some metal brackets while I got out my always-ready can of white paint.

We took down the blinds, hung the window, and stood back.

It really wasn't working. There was too much open glass exposed without the blinds, but we knew the blinds wouldn't work with the stained glass.

When I suggested we try some valances to break up the open space, Doug went off to Home Depot for some rods while I headed for the sewing room.

Round 2. It still wasn't working.  The valances didn't really do the job, and now Doug pointed out that because the stained glass window was hung spanning a double regular window, the design was kind of lost because of the wood frame behind it.

Hmmm.

Round 3.  Let's attach it to the front door, which has a large glass opening halfway up.

Doug went back to Home Depot to return the rods and buy some different brackets while I rehung the wooden blinds and put the couch back.  By now, the cat was giving us dirty looks--it's tough to nap when people are drilling, banging, and moving the couch you're sleeping on.

When Doug got back, we attached the window to the front door and were really happy with the effect inside. But outside, the glossy white frame screamed out at us. It looked like an afterthought rather than an integral part of the door.

Round 4.  We removed the window again and took it downstairs to paint the back to match the front door and outside trim of the house.

Two hours later, when the paint was dry, we hung the window again. Then we noticed that a bit of white paint from the brackets had migrated to the back of the window. Doug loosened the screws while I went downstairs and got a little cup of the khaki outdoor trim paint and a cheap little brush to touch it up.

By then it was 8:00 p.m. on a day when we had already lost an hour due to Daylight Savings Time. We were so exhausted, we watched one mindless TV show and went to bed.
______
Window: $130 plus tax
Brackets: $11.94
Trips to Home Depot: 2
Number of times we hung window: 4
Sun shining through window in morning: Priceless