Upcycle Vintage Windows with Simple Fairy Lights

​text by Vicki     Sign up to get Mother Daughter Projects updates in your email!

If you know me, you are aware that I brake for trash. One Saturday morning as I traveled to yard sales, I spotted an aquarium in a trash pile. I quickly braked to pick it up. I didn't notice at first, but sitting with the aquarium were four large vintage windows with the glass intact. I thought, "what the heck, they might be usable for something", so into the Honda they went. 

That was also the yard sale day that I found several pieces of oak tongue and groove flooring, a large mantle size piece of cedar and a live edge piece of cypress (all for the bargain price of $15). My car was quite full by the time I loaded it all up. I wasted no time dropping off the aquarium for my grandkids (I had been tasked with finding one and what's better than finding a free one!?) and then took the rest to Steph's house.

I'm never sure how she will react to my "finds," but she liked the windows and decided they'd make a great decor for a blank wall in her house! 

Materials:

• Windows
• Window cleaner
• Microfiber cloth
• Razor
• Battery powered fairy lights (Amazon)
  
• WD-40 (Amazon)
• Minwax Clear Poly (Amazon)
• Sander/ Sandpaper (Diablo)
• Screwdriver
• French cleat (Amazon)
• Lace fabric
• ​Rust-Oleum Frosted Glass spray (Amazon)

A post shared by Vicki & Steph (@motherdaughterprojects) on Sep 18, 2017 at 12:04pm PDT

Watch the video above to see more details on this project!

There were two large windows...

Cleaning the glass and wood was the first step. A good window cleaner and microfiber cloth got the job done.

The frames were sanded just enough to remove some of the chipped paint.

WD-40 does a great job cleaning old hardware and stopping the rust.

To create a subtle design, we used a piece of lace and sprayed it with frosted glass paint.

...and two matching smaller ones.

Tiny spatters of paint were on the glass. After wetting the window with window cleaner, I gently scrapped it off with a razor.

Hardware was removed prior to sanding and then cleaned.

We painted the frames with a clear poly to keep the white paint from peeling anymore.

This is the wall where the windows were to be placed. Deciding how to place them on the wall was challenging.

We decided trying them out on the ground was our best option. We like this arrangement the best.

The windows were hung with French cleats. It comes with everything you'll need.

This part goes on the wall.

One part of the cleat goes in the wall, the other on the window.

The lights were randomly taped into place inside the frames.

Steph made a little cover and painted them the wall cover to hide the battery boxes of the fairy lights.

The boxes are held in place with velcro.

Just push the box to control the lights.

The cover also serve as a light switch.

Here you can see the subtle lace pattern on the glass.

Every once in a while it's fun to do a quick upcycle project. This was one of those. We love the look, as it fills Steph's space but doesn't look heavy or overpowering. Another nice feature is we can clean the lace pattern off the glass if we want to give these a different look in the future.

Please note: We are not sponsored by any of the companies/products that we used. These products were picked and bought by us.

FYI: We are not professionals, and we don’t claim to be. This is what we found worked for our project. Yours may need a little different approach. Safety first!

FYI: Affiliate links are being used on this page. Purchasing via these links help support MDP!

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