Deconstructing a chandelier

I am in the process of re-doing my dining room. I finally got it painted, made the curtains and hung them, and put down the new area rugs. The light fixture really needs to be replaced and what I really want is one of those cool chandeliers with the hanging strings of beads on them. However, being the cheap, erm, I mean frugal person that I am, I cannot convince myself to spend a couple hundred bucks for one.

A week or so ago, the hubs and I were at Home Depot and I saw a chandelier I just loved, but it was just too pricey for me. We found out it was the last one in the store, and we tried to get the guy to lower the price, but he wouldn't. Then, the hubs says "You know...my parents used to have a chandelier in their dining room at our old house...I think it might still be in their basement." He phones mom and she says "Yes, I still have it..in fact, I have two of them and I was going to give them to Purple Hearts!" *GASP!*

We go over to mom and dad's and the chandeliers are EXACTLY what I have been looking for (AND they still work!) and mom says "Take it! Take both of them! Take them apart, paint them, do whatever you want with them. I can't wait to see what you come up with!" Have I mentioned how awesome my mother -in-law is? Well, she is!

So, this month will be re-create the chandelier month. Today I took all the old crystals and glass arms off the basic structure and as soon as the sun comes out and it stops raining, (tomorrow? Please let it be tomorrow!) I'll take it outside and scrub it down with some steel wool and clean it up for painting. Now that I have it stripped down, the temptation to turn it into a squid is nearly overwhelming (ala Adam Wallacavage: http://www.adamwallacavage.com/octo/) However, my family does not share my enthusiasm for all things SQUID, so I am going to stick with my original design and rest easy in the knowledge that I do have another chandelier waiting in the wings. ; )