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DIY Candlesticks From Old Banisters

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Hello sweet friends! I recently went to South Carolina for a workshop and to meet one of my favorite YouTubers, Debi’s Design Diary. On the days leading up to the trip I told my husband that I wanted to stop by every single second hand, thrift or antique store along the way.

I love thrifting but I will be honest, by the end of last year I was so burned out. And I needed to go and take a fun break and just look at pretty things instead of make pretty things for a change. Of course, I could not help myself and I ended up buying things to DIY anyways. I share more about the trip here.

In one of the shops, I found these cute mini cloches at only 50 cents each so naturally I picked them up. I didn’t have a plan for them right away, but I knew I wanted to incorporate them into some candle holders of some type.

Oh and did I mention, I have a huge announcement in this post? Keep reading to see what it is!

After we came back from our trip I came across a FB Marketplace listing for a couple of banisters a lady was selling for $10 for the pair. I quickly went by and picked them up.

Aren’t they amazing?!

My husband and I had been working with our bathroom renovation and he had his power tools out, so I quickly asked him to cut them down for me. I had him cut them at differing heights.

He also cut the bolts off at the bottom of each.

I recently purchased this box of wooden rings for another project and decided to use two of them for the tops of the candleholders. This gave it a more finished look (instead of it looking like it had been cut off).

I used some wood glue to adhere them.

And I placed something heavy to hold them down while they dried.

Since sage is the color of the year, I thought I would go with DIY Paint’s Gypsy Green and on that note…..

I will actually be selling these paints very shortly!

I met Debi last month and she is a fan of my Youtube channel (as much as I am of hers) and she brought up the idea of me selling her paints. After so much deliberation (cause I overthink) and a couple of conversations, I thought I would take the leap of faith. I mean, I talk about her clear wax all the time anyway. LOL!

So right now I am setting up everything behind the scenes so I can get started and sell them in my online shop.

Her paint is highly pigmented and is made of only 9 all natural ingredients. Because it is clay based it has amazing coverage and dries with a chalky feel.

It’s great for both small and large projects. And I will even be carrying sample size paints as well for smaller projects like this!

I love the look and feel of it and I cannot wait to show you more from her line.

Now back to the candlesticks… I could have left them with one coat, but I went ahead and did a second since the banister was stained such a dark color to begin with.

After they dried I used some of her clear wax (it’s my favorite!) It deepens the color and seals the surface so smoothly.

While it was still tacky I sprinkled some of DIY Paint’s white Decrepit Dust and worked it into the paint strokes and all of the nooks and crannies with my brush.

I also incorporated some of the DIY Paint’s white wax to bring out the creases even more.

Then I wiped off the excess with clean cloth that was just a little damp. As you can see I also distressed some of the edges a bit. You can see the different after I removed the excess on the bottom part of the candlestick.

Next I took some E6000 and applied it to the top rings so that I could adhere the mini glass cloches.

I even used a small level to make sure they stuck on straight.

And that was it! I think this is probably one of my best DIYs yet!

It’s like the mini cloches were meant for these banister legs! Such a perfect fit. Can you tell these were DIY candlesticks from old banisters?

I think the distressing is just the perfect amount and the white wax gives it an aged look. And I even put felt underneath them to protect my furniture surfaces.

What’s even more exciting is that I was able to make these book ends from one of the banister tops as well! And I still have more banister pieces left to make more projects!

If you are interested in how I made these, you can watch how I made these here.

Let me know what you think of these and feel free to share this with your crafty friends! Let me know what you think below.