Repurposed Furniture Leg Candlesticks With Sheet Metal Shades DIY
Old table and chair legs can easily be turned into beautiful, fun candlesticks with a little DIY. For even more beauty, you can make your own sheet metal shades to add sparkle and drama. Here's the easy how-to.
(you can see I needed to come up with a repurposing idea, so these didn't end up in the firepit;)
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First, cut your legs and spindles to the height you would want your candlesticks to be. Mine varied from 6-18". It's more interesting if the legs are turned the opposite way than they would have been on the piece of furniture.
If your candlesticks seem like they will be tippy, add a chunky base to them to stabilize. We used a simple piece of rough cedar leftover from a fence post.
Drill holes for your candles in the top ends of your furniture legs. You can vary the sizes to hold votive cups, pillars and tapers. I just grabbed a variety at the store.
Now to make the sheet metal shades! Sheets of decorative stamped sheet metal come in a variety of designs. I had leftover scraps from placing it in old frames.
Cut the sheet metal with tinsnips (find some HERE) so it is about an inch above the height of your candle. Bend the metal around a spray paint can. When you get your desired diameter to go around candle, use vise grip pliers to hold in place.
Drill holes and use a pop rivet gun (find one HERE) to fasten closed. Pop rivets are fun! You may want to find more projects to use with this tool!
Finish your repurposed candlesticks with paint or poly. Some of my furniture legs already had great character and chippy paint, so I brushed on a coat of poly to seal. For others, I gave them a couple coats of Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint and added handpainted details. I was going for a vintage Shiny Brite ornaments look. I lightly distressed and sealed with hemp oil.
Find Miss Mustard Seed Products HERE. Use code 10OFFLB for discount.
Ready for the big reveal? What a fun repurposed makeover! Just in time for the Christmas mantel!
For more vintage-inspired Christmas projects and decor ideas, see HERE.
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Very nice. Love the addition of the sheet metal. Great idea.
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Glad you enjoyed it; thanks!
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Lovely. @Lora - if you still have a stash - you might be interested in this idea. At a small local craft fair, a young gal had cut down spindles to various lengths and painted in greens / reds - but very rustic. Lots of wood still showing. Attached a small eye hook to the top, added some ribbon / raffia / wire and was displaying them as Christmas ornaments. Obviously, the spindles were not as large as your candlestick ones, but such a cute idea.
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They look absolutely FABULOUS…….but who has a box load of chair legs?? Not me.