Pottery Barn Knockoff: DIY Birch Candles

$20
3 Hours
Easy
I love the birch candles featured in my favorite home decor catalogs. But to purchase five birch candles from Pottery Barn would have cost me nearly $200. I made my own instead for less than $20!
Here's a peek at the finished project.
I started with five flameless candles in various sizes that I picked up at Walmart. The total for all five was about $15. I chose the battery-operated version because I wanted them to last and I didn’t want to worry about keeping stuff away from the flames. I’m sure you could use regular pillar candles. Just remember to never leave burning candles unattended – especially DIY ones.
I started by painting the outsides of the candles in a greige color (that’s a cross between gray and beige, to be clear), similar to the color of tree bark. I used leftover chalk paint I had lying around, but any craft paint would probably work.
After the paint dried, I took a craft knife and cut slits all over the outsides of the candles to create the texture of birch bark.
I created faux wood knots on the candles by drawing eye shapes in various sizes with my craft knife, then scoring (i.e. notching or scratching out) the middles.
I brushed on some espresso-colored stain that settled into the cracks and started to give the candles the look of real wood bark.
I wiped off the excess stain and let everything dry really well. Then I brushed on a watered-down layer of silvery-white paint, giving the candles a bit of shimmer.
Finally, I accentuated the knots by going over them with a small artist’s brush loaded with a watered-down mixture of brown and black craft paint. I used craft paint for this step because it stuck to the wax really well.
Done!
What do you think of my Pottery Barn knockoff DIY birch candles?
Living Rich on Less - Susan
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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  • Judith Laurence Judith Laurence on Apr 20, 2017

    What a GREAT DIY - so incredibly creative. Thank you for sharing.

  • Susan Susan on Apr 20, 2017

    You said you used brown and black craft paint because it stuck to the wax so well. What step did I miss where you applied wax? Thanks

  • Sandra Sandra on May 27, 2018

    These are so nice I’m going to try it . I to need the name of the silvery white or how did you make

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  • Mickey Finn-Jordan Mickey Finn-Jordan on Jun 04, 2018

    Very nice!

    Thank

  • Ali31712377 Ali31712377 on Sep 05, 2018

    They look brill, i did same a few years back with glass paints on an old glass vase and popped a battery candle inside. Looked fab and safe for the animals in the house. No fear of tails catching fire. Those candles will last you year, great ideas.

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