What Can You Do With a Thrift Store Candleholder?
by
Rhonda B
(IC: blogger)
You make a succulent garden or birdbath! A couple of weeks ago I stopped at a Salvation Army thrift store to see if they had anything interesting I could put to good use. As I was walking around I spotted this freestanding candle holder that was made of metal and instantly knew I could do something with it. It was bent up a bit and the price was a little steep for me at $4.95, but I snatched it up anyway and took it home. Here is what it looked like:
After thinking about it for a couple days I decided it would be perfect as a stand for a succulent garden. I had thought of using it as a birdbath stand but wanted something I could bring in to the house when it gets cold out. Here is what it looked like finished:
1. My first step for this project was to make a lightweight concrete bowl for the top-it is a recipe that contains mostly perlite so it is lighter than standard concrete (I can't remember my exact measurements for this recipe-I experimented with quite a few to get what I needed). Here is a pic of the bowl-you can see how much perlite I used:
(Note: I let the bowl cure for at least a week before planting in it)
I ended up using a cutting disc for my drill to grind off the middle piece but a hacksaw should work fine-I made sure to cut of the candle holder but left the rod to hold the bowl.
5. When the copper is dried I used spray paint to create a faux patina (I will give instructions for the faux patina in my next post). Here is what the patina looked like:
6. After the stand was completely dry I sealed it with a matte top coat to preserve the faux patina.
Start with a smaller bit and drill the hole then move to a larger bit to make the hole bigger-this helps to prevent cracks and chips when drilling:
8. Plant up the bowl with some succulents, I used non-hardy succulents so that I can bring this in in the Fall:
Here is the finished project-I love they way it looks on my deck:-))
I am very happy with the way this project turned out-it is amazing what a little paint and handywork can create from someone else's "junk". I went with a faux patina because I have copper yard art that has a patina and I wanted to simulate that effect. You can just use 3 coats of regular spray paint if you do not like the patina look-here is what the stand looks like before the patina effect:
For more detailed instructions visit my blog at:
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Published July 24th, 2014 11:43 AM
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Claire M Collins on Feb 02, 2020
Great project! Nicely done.
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